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A FRENCH AMBASSADOR A'T rUE COURT 
 OF CHARLES THE SECOND. 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 ENGLISH WAYFARING LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 
 
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^- 
 
 />)/ <^(' ^■^ fT/'/nc^i.^in 
 
A 
 
 French Ambassador 
 
 AT THE 
 
 COURT OF CHARLES THE SECOND 
 
 Le Comte de Cominges 
 From his unpublished Correspondence 
 
 J. J. JUSSERAND 
 
 Conseilier d'Ambassade 
 
 IFITH PORTRAITS 
 
 POPULAR EDITION 
 
 T. FISHER UNWIN 
 
 PATERNOSTER SQUARE 
 
 MDCCCXCV 
 
r 
 
 <y 
 
 S"'3)/03ajs 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 INTRODUCTION ii 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 HOWCOMINGES'S PREDECESSOR HAD TO LEJl'E 
 
 ENGLAND 17 
 
 Charles and Louis — Their character — Lionnc — D'Es- 
 trades^Rivalry between the French and Spanish crowns 
 — The question of precedence — The entrees and their 
 importance — Coming to London of Venetian ambassadors 
 — Of a Swedish ambassador — The Watteville affair — 
 D'Estrades leaves England — Sale of Dunkirk — D'Estrades 
 sent to the Hague... ... ... ... ... ... 17 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 COMINGES 33 
 
 His ancestors and his family — Epoisses — His youth — 
 War — Concerts — Marriage — La Belle Cominges — " Cc- 
 spnie " in the />rm>^j-^j group — ^^Children ... ... 33 
 
 11363B 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 TONE AND MANNER OF THE CORRESPOND- 
 ENCE 
 
 PAGE 
 
 42 
 
 Cominges's public and private correspondence — Court 
 news — Louis's early attention to business — Mis working 
 hours — His dictation and correction of despatches — His 
 illness — His playful letters. 
 
 Cominges's style — His classical tastes. 
 
 Postal difficulties — Packets open — Secret correspon- 
 dence ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 42 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE ... 52 
 
 Cominges's ignorance of English — French spelling of 
 English names — ^Interpreters — The "Journal des 893- 
 vans " — Clarendon's bad French. 
 
 Louis asks for a report on literary and scientific men 
 in England — Cominges's answer. 
 
 Cominges's literary dinners — Hobbes, Sorbieres, Huy- 
 gens — Gramont, St. Evremont, Buckingham, Temple, &c. 52 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 ETI^ETTE AND COURT NEWS 66 
 
 66 
 
 I. Cominges's entree — The Muscovite precedent — The 
 event 
 
 II. At my Lord Mayor's — A grave breach of etiquette 
 — The matter composed. 
 
 The temper of Lord Holies, English envoy to 
 France ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 76 
 
 III. Cominges at home— Large dinners — Small dinners 
 
 — Madame de Cominges ... ... ... ... ... 82 
 
 IV. Court news — Charles and Catherine — Lady 
 Castlemaine — Miss Stuart — Monmouth — Gramont — 
 Tunbridge, Whitehall, and University festivities and dis 
 sipations ... 
 
 86 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 7HE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND 98 
 
 Parliament — Importance of the institution in the eyes 
 of Louis XIV. — Opening ceremony — Cominges's memoir 
 on Parliamentary institutions — Louis's approv^al of the 
 memoir. 
 
 Personal freedom — Bristol — A new commonwealth 
 still possible — Louis's opinion on Parliaments ... ... 98 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 RELIGIOUS MATTERS no 
 
 The English and the French point of view — French 
 quarrels with the Papal Court — The Crcqui affair — Im- 
 pending war — The coming of the Legate — Cominges' 
 sneers — Cominges' seriousness. 
 
 Variety of beliefs in England — Quakers, Millenarists, 
 &c. — State of Ireland. 
 
 Prophets and soothsayers — The Earl of Pembroke — 
 Cominges's chapel — The bishops of the Established 
 Church no 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 LJ GUERRE ET LA PAIX 121 
 
 The main object of Louis's policy, Spain — His attitude 
 towards the two naval powers, Holland and England — A 
 closer union with England recommended by Mazarin — 
 Poland. 
 
 Hostile attitude of the English nation — Protracted 
 negotiation — The London mob. 
 
 Cominges's health a difficulty — His temper — Scurvy, 
 fluxions, colds, fevers — His impending death — Holles's 
 temper on a par with Cominges's — Madame's influence 
 on the rise. 
 
9 CONTENTS. 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 Minor questions — The far East — The Mediterranean 
 Corsairs — Purchase of slaves. 
 
 Impending war between England and Holland — Fleet- 
 building — Launching of vessels — Reprisals begin — Louis's 
 last effort to preserve peace ... ... ... ... 121 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 L4 CELEBRE AMBASSADE 138 
 
 I. Business — Verneuil, Courtin, and Cominges — 
 Their instructions — Evil omens. 
 
 Courtin's conversations with Charles — His impressions 
 of the English nation and its sovereign. 
 
 Van Gogh and his sword — Dutch temper — The Duke 
 of York's naval victory. 
 
 Bonfires and riots — Courtin and Cominges besieged — 
 Louis's discrimination in the matter of riots ... ... 138 
 
 II. Amusements — The Castlemainc again — Drinking 
 — Liquid blanc mange — Lionne's son — Love removes his 
 gaucherie — Miss Jennings — Chocolate ... ... ... 150 
 
 . III. Fogs and the plague — Evelyn's " Fumifugium " 
 — Sufferings of the ambassadors — -Verneuil's spleen — His 
 dogs. 
 
 The plague — Aspect of London^ — Removal to Kings- 
 ton — to Salisbury — ^to Oxford ... ... ... ... 158 
 
 IV. End of the negotiation — War inevitable ... 171 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 HOME AGAIN 177 
 
 Leave-taking — Parting gifts — Difficulties of the jour- 
 ney — Verneuil's dogs lost— The quarantine at Pandc — 
 Paris again. 
 
 The end of Courtin, Verneuil, Cominges, and Cc- 
 sonie ... ... ... ... ... ... ••- ^77 
 
 APPENDIX 185 
 
 INDEX ... 253 
 
LIST OF PORTRAITS. 
 
 HuGUEs DE LioNNE, Foreign Secretary to 
 King Louis XIV., engraved by De Larmessin in 
 1664 ... ... ... ... ... Frontispiece 
 
 Le Comte d'Estrades, Ambassador to Eng- 
 land, 1661, engraved by Etienne Picart To face p. 21 
 
 King Louis XIV., engraved by Nanteuil, from 
 life, 1664 ... ... ... ... To face p. 29 
 
 Le Comte de Cominges, Ambassador to 
 England, 1 662-1 665, from a drawing in the MS. 
 Oairambault, 1153, fol. no, in the National 
 Library, Paris ... ... ... To face p, 42 
 
 HuYG ens, engraved by Edelink To face p. 61 
 
 The Lady Castlemaine, engraved by W. 
 Sherwin in 1670 ... ... ... To face p. 91 
 
 Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Gra- 
 MONT, from the picture by Lely, preserved at 
 Hampton Court ... To face p. 95 
 
lo LIST OF PORTRAITS. 
 
 HoNORE CouRTiN, Ambassador to England, 
 1665, engraved by Nanteuil, from life, 1668 
 
 To face p. 13S 
 
 Miss Jennings, from the picture by Verelst, 
 engraved by P. W. Tomkins ... To face p. 153 
 
 Le Due DE Verneuil, Ambassador to England, 
 1665, engraved by Michel Lasne, from life, 1661 
 
 To face p. 161 
 
 A part of this work was published in the " Nineteenth 
 Century^'" and is here reprinted., by the kind permission 
 of Mr. James Knowles. 
 
H jfrencb Hmbassabor at the 
 Court of Charles tbe Seconb- 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 WHEN Mr. Pepys went home, he secretly con- 
 fided to his note-book his impressions of what 
 he had seen in the day. Not less secretly did 
 foreign Ambassadors in England write to their kings 
 from day to day of English manners, court festivities, 
 the British Parliament and navy, city banquets, matters 
 of etiquette, and also, at great length, of treaty negotia- 
 tions. 
 
 Both secrets now lie open : Mr. Pepys's manuscripts 
 have long been deciphered, and the dragons who kept 
 the gates of the silent temples of diplomacy have been 
 motioned away. Great use has been made by historians 
 of the stores of information thus thrown open ; the 
 venerable volumes, bound in red morocco, of the 
 *' Correspondance d'Angleterre," at the French Foreign 
 Office, with the royal cypher and crown, and the adder 
 of the Colbert family on the back and sides, have been 
 handled by Mignet, by Macaulay, and several others. 
 Writers have taken from the wealthy depository the 
 scraps and quotations they wanted to further their 
 
12 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 particular object, were it the succession of Spain or the 
 English Revolution. 
 
 Another experiment is still to be tried, and the mass 
 ■of this correspondence may be put to a different use. 
 It remains to take it, so to say, as it is ; not to take one 
 side only, not to single out what refers to Spain, to 
 England, or to one or another question ; but to accept 
 it altogether as it stands, and see what ambassadors at 
 the time of Mr. Pepys and the Sun-king wrote about. 
 What did they consider worth mentioning ^ In what 
 way were they struck by the manners and the genius 
 •of the country ^ What did they consider specially 
 noticeable ? Matters which are no longer alluded to in 
 diplomatic correspondence filled then sheet after sheet 
 of official paper. What were these matters, and why 
 did they fill so much space ? 
 
 Most of the Ambassadors sent then to London had 
 travelled and made war in Europe, but mostly in the 
 South ; when they came as Ambassadors to England, 
 England was for them a terra incognita. They came 
 and made discoveries. Looking at a town from a 
 distance the houses appear a confused mass, above 
 which, much more clearly than on a nearer inspection, 
 emerge towers, steeples, and spires. The foreignness of 
 Ambassadors to their new surroundings acted as distance 
 does ; they did not plunge into ordinary life, they had 
 only general, and sometimes confused notions about it ; 
 but they observed a good many things that rose above 
 it, sign-posts which they tried to read and understand. 
 It is interesting to know whether, among the variety 
 of such signs rising above the common level, they were 
 more struck by the Tower of London or the old houses 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 where Parliament sat, by Whitehall or by St. Paul's, by 
 the masts innumerable in the Chatham dockyards or by 
 the chapels innumerable, where a variety of creeds were 
 more or less openly taught. While considering from 
 this standpoint the ambassadorial correspondence of 
 those times, we may form an estimate of what foreigners 
 of education and with the best means for information, 
 wondered at when coming to London ; and at che same 
 time we get an insight into the tastes, the wants and the 
 curiosities of his Sun-like Majesty King Louis Quatorze. 
 
 With this object in view I chose the correspondence 
 concerning the years 1661 to 1666, mainly filled by the 
 Embassy to England of the Comte de Cominges.^ His 
 correspondence may be taken as a good average sample 
 of the documents preserved at the French Foreign Office, 
 and though the value of the dispatches of Cominges was 
 well known, only a few extracts have been published. ^ 
 Macaulay made scarcely any use of it ; and as for 
 Cominges himself, though he was a man " important 
 toute sa vie," according to St. Simon, it cannot be said 
 that he is too well known : the forty-five volumes of 
 Michaut, the forty-six of the " Nouvelle Biographic 
 Generale," have not a line, not a word about him. 
 
 What he wrote concerning England, what his master 
 Louis XIV. wanted him to write, is hereafter explained. 
 
 ^ I used especially vols. Ixxv. to Ixxxviii. of the " Correspondance 
 d'Angleterre," preserved at the Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, 
 Paris. 
 
 2 Especially by Lord Braybrooke, at the end of his edition of 
 Pepys (twenty-eight extracts, not from the originals, but from copies 
 preserved at the National Library) ; by the Comte de Baillon, in 
 his "Henrietta d'Angleterre," Paris, 1886; by Ravaisson, in his 
 "Archives de la Bastille," &c. 
 
14 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 But first some few apologies for the hero of this work 
 will, perhaps, not be amiss. Bereft as he is now of his 
 diplomatic privilege, and exposed to censure, it is only 
 fair that his judges be reminded that the benefit of 
 extenuating circumstances may be equitably extended 
 to some of his worse faults. 
 
 First it must be confessed that he did not know 
 a word of English ; but scarcely anybody did in 
 his time ; the savants of the " Journal des S^avans " 
 were not more learned in this respect, as we shall see, 
 than the very Ambassadors. 
 
 He had never heard of Shakespeare, and only knew 
 " Miltonius," which may come from the same cause ; 
 he did not know English-writing Shakespeare, but he 
 knew " Miltonius," because this was a Latin author. 
 For he knew Latin very well, as most educated people 
 did in his time, so much so that he and his colleagues 
 of 1665 offered, as will appear further, to conduct in 
 Latin the conferences for the treaty with England. 
 
 Beyond the classics, it must be admitted, he knew 
 nothing ; and to many, therefore, he may have appeared 
 ignorant and proud. *' Rough and proud," he is called 
 in the '' Memoires de Guiche." ^ But it must be re- 
 membered that he was a soldier by profession, and a 
 good one too : this may account for some of his rough- 
 ness and pride. For the same reason, as will be seen, 
 when he bowed, he bowed very low, and according to 
 rule ; when he stood, he stood very stiff : men of this 
 
 ^ Cominges had " des manicres qui lui sont propres ct qu'on 
 peut dire etre assez rudes et assez fieres '' (" Memoires du Comte 
 dc Guiche," London, 1743, \^'\ year 1665, p. 63). 
 
INTRODUCTION, 15 
 
 sort — a somewhat rare sort now — were then numerous ; 
 they wore ribbons on their cuirasses. 
 
 It will be found, lastly, that several of his judgments 
 are rather bitter. On this important point some excuse 
 is to be found in the fact that the country was at that 
 time unsettled ; that maladministration was breeding 
 discontent, and that, if the English people themselves 
 chose means different from those Cominges would have 
 recommended, they, at least, agreed with him on the 
 inconveniencies of the Stuart rdgime^ and they put an 
 end to it. 
 
 If, lastly, any touch of ill-humour appears here and 
 there, let it be remembered that Ambassadors had good 
 reason now and again to be ill-humoured. Not to 
 speak of the fogs, which seem to have greatly irritated 
 Cominges, he could not ignore that he was very un- 
 popular ; contrary to custom, he was not bowed to in 
 the streets, and he keenly felt the want of bows ; he 
 was twice besieged in his house by the mob, and had 
 his windows broken; his predecessor, d'Estrades, had 
 been shot at, and had received a bullet in his hat. 
 Such were some of the unpleasant items of ambassa- 
 dorial life in those days. 
 
 But this one redeeming point he had : though usually 
 speaking first and foremost of King Charles to King 
 Louis, and of courtly affairs and intrigues, Cominges 
 felt. that besides the king there was a nation, with 
 qualities of its own, fickle (he thought) in religious 
 matters, stubborn in matters of foreign policy, endowed 
 with an indomitable courage, and with an irrepressible 
 fondness for liberty : at which last thought, it is true, 
 he crossed himself \i he sometimes misinterpreted 
 
i5 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 their meaning and misunderstood their manners, he 
 never misjudged their strength, he admired their navy, 
 nay, and even their Parliament, which he does not 
 hesitate to call " auguste." Out of temper as he 
 was with the fogs, and unpopular for being a subject 
 of the Sun-king, he was wise enough to disprove 
 the insulting rumours current in both countries on the 
 character of the other. 
 
 But it is time to let him speak for himself, and be 
 judged, as the French law permits, on his own testi- 
 mony. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 HOW COMINGES'S PREDECESSOR HAD TO LEAVE 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 AT the time when our story begins, if story it may 
 be called, Cardinal Mazarin had just died (March 
 9, 1661) ; Louis XIV., aged twenty-two, had 
 assumed the reins of government ; Hugues de Lionnc 
 was, not yet officially, but in practice, Foreign Secretary 
 to the King ; the Stuart dynasty had recently been 
 re-established in England. The French and English 
 kings were beginning their reigns at about the same 
 time ; both were young and intelligent, and enjoyed a 
 wide popularity among their subjects ; both had a 
 brilliant court of able men, fine courtiers and beautiful 
 ladies, and both delighted in worldly pleasures. But 
 while the one, from his very youth meant to be a king, 
 the nfhptMTPv^r_rnr ed ^^ be _ope. Louis was, even at this 
 time, writing of his privileges and his flag in the very 
 tone of deep-set resolution which Charles used when the 
 question was of the rank and privileges of the Lady 
 Castlemaine. " Whosoever I find endeavouring," wrote 
 Charles to Clarendon, " to hinder this resolution of 
 mine [to appoint the Castlemaine a lady of the Queen's 
 bedchamber] ... I will be his enemy to the last 
 
i8 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 moment of my life. You know how much a friend I 
 have been to you. . If you will oblige me eternallvj 
 make this business as easy to me as you can, of what 
 opinion you are of, for I am resolved to go through 
 with this matter let what will come on it, and whom- 
 soever I find to be my Lady Castlemaine's enemy in 
 this matter, I do promise upon my word to be liis 
 enemy as long as I live." ^ 
 
 In the same strain, but with a different object, Louis 
 was writing to his ambassador in England : " The 
 point 1 most especially noticed in your dispatch is how 
 neither the King my brother, nor his advisers, do know 
 me well as yet ; else they would not assume a firmness 
 and hauteur in their attitude bordering upon threats. 
 There is no power under heaven that can make me 
 move one step on such a path. Evil may come to me, 
 but no feeling of fear ever will ; . . . the King of 
 England and his Chancellor can of course make an 
 estimate of what my forces are ; but they do not see 
 my heart. And I, who feel and know both, wish that 
 you let them hear, for my only answer, as soon as this 
 courier reaches you, that I do not crave, nor look for, 
 any accommodation in the affair of the salute at sea, 
 because I will well find means to maintain my right, 
 whatever be the consequence. . . . All the Chancellor 
 has put forward is nothing for me as compared to a 
 
 ^ T. H. Lister, " Lite and Administration of Edward, Earl of 
 Clarendon." London, 1838, 3 vols. 8vo., vol. iii. p. 202. Claren- 
 don writes to the Duke of Ormond : " The worst is the King 
 is as discomposed as ever, and looks as little after his business ; 
 which breaks my heart, and makes me and other of your friends 
 weary of our lives" (Sept. 9, 1662. Ibid. p. 222). 
 
COMINGES'S PREDECESSOR. 19 
 
 foint dhonneur^ connected, were it ever so slightly, with 
 the fame of my crown. Far from taking into account, 
 in such a case as this, what may become of the States 
 of others, such as Portugal, I will be found ready to 
 put mine own in jeopardy, rather than tarnish by any 
 faint-heartedness the glory which I am seeking in all 
 things as the principal aim of all my actions." ^ 
 
 All their life long, and though Louis was not without 
 his La Valliere and his Montespan, and though Charles 
 was not without his William Temple and his Triple 
 Alliance, they remained to the end such as they appear 
 at their ddbut^ in these two letters, both ready to put 
 their crowns in jeopardy, the one for a point d'honneur^ 
 the other for a Castlemaine. 
 
 Louis's Foreign Secretary, Hugues de Lionne, was 
 not unworthy of his master, as may be gathered from 
 the excellent sketch from life left to us by the Abbe de 
 Cholsy. " He had a genius of a superior order. His 
 mind, quick and keen from his birth, had bten yet 
 sharpened in the affairs which Mazarin had early 
 entrusted to him. ... A wit and a scholar, he did not 
 write very well, but with great ease, and would never 
 take the trouble to do better. The very reverse of 
 avaricious, and considering riches only as a means for 
 satisfying his taste for pleasure, he was a gamester and 
 spendthrift, and never stopped even when his health 
 was at stake. In ordinary circumstances he would 
 remain idle, except when he had pleasure for his object. 
 
 ^ To d'Estradcs, Jan. 25, 1662. "CEuv. de Louis XTV.," 1806, 
 V. 68. The original draft in the handwriting of Lionne is preserved 
 in vol. Ixxxi. of the " Correspondance d'Angleterre," French 
 Foreign Office. 
 
20 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 When pressed by necessity he was found indefatigable, 
 and spent his days and nights at work ; this, however, 
 happened rarely. He expected no help from his clerks, 
 but drew all from himself, wrote with his own hand or 
 dictated all the dispatches ; giving, however, each day 
 only a few hours to the affairs of State, with the thought 
 that, thanks to his quickness, he could regain the time 
 his passions made him squander." ^ The numerous 
 volumes in the French archives filled with drafts of 
 dispatches and minutes of conversations, written in his 
 own excessively rapid and not very legible hand, testify 
 to the present day to the truth of Choisy's portrait. 
 
 Such was the King and such his minister. The first 
 ambassador they sent to England after the Restoration, 
 Godefroy Comte d'Estrades had his stay there curtailed 
 by an unexpected event. He was '' a tall, cold person, 
 with a fine figure. Few men," wrote Tallemant des 
 Reaux in his " Historiettes," " are better endowed with 
 cold-blooded valour ; he has fought several fine duels. 
 One day, it is reported, he fought against a certain 
 bravado who placed himself on the brink of a little 
 ditch saying to d'Estrades, ' I won't pass the ditch.' 
 * And I,' answered d'Estrades, marking a line behind him 
 with his sword, * I will not pass this line.' They fight ; 
 d'Estrades kills the other." He had been a page to 
 King Louis XIII. , and made war in Holland and Italy. 
 His taste for fighting, worthy of Merimee's '' Chronique 
 de Charles IX.," had not prevented him from entering 
 the diplomatic service. He was entrusted with mis- 
 sions to England, to Piedmont, to the Dutch States, 
 
 "■ "Memoires" edited by deLescure. Paris, 1888, 2 vols., vol. i. 
 p. 89. 
 

LE COMTE D'ESTRADES 
 Amhassador to England 1 66 1 
 
 From the engraving by Etienne Picart 
 
COMINGES'S PREDECESSOR, 21 
 
 and he took part in the conferences at Munster, 
 1646. His mother was a Secondat of the family which 
 was to boast in after-times of the famous Montesquieu. 
 
 D'Estrades had reached England in July, 1 661, and 
 had established himself at Chelsea. The instructions 
 with which he had been supplied prescribed to him to 
 prepare a treaty with England, and contained strict 
 intimations as to the care he ought to bestow on all 
 questions of etiquette and precedence. His Majesty 
 recommends his representative "jealously to preserve 
 the dignity of his Crown in the Court whither he 
 is going ; because any insult he may receive would in 
 reality fall on his master, who is bound to resent it 
 to the utmost. . . . The Sieur d^Estrades will in all 
 occasions preserve the pre-eminence to which the King 
 is entitled, allowing no ambassador to go before him, 
 except the Emperor's in case he were to send one to 
 England. He will allow to his left the Spanish ambas- 
 sador as well as the representatives -of the other kings 
 who hold their crown direct from God alone. As for 
 those of Venice ... he will allow them only to go 
 behind." ^ 
 
 No treaty at all was to be signed during d'Estrades' 
 stay, and all his ingenuity, valour, knowledge of the 
 world, of military tactics and diplomacy, were meant to 
 be used only, and not without some deep and lasting 
 consequence, in those same questions of precedence and 
 etiquette. 
 
 The main preoccupation of the French sovereign 
 then was Spain, a dreaded rival in the past, a possible 
 prey in the future. The Most Christian King was bent 
 ^ May 13, 1661. 
 
2 2 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 upon asserting publicly, as he did privately in his 
 instructions, his right of precedence over his Catholic 
 brother. The fiction according to which an ambassa- 
 dor's person is, so to say, a duplicate of the king's person 
 was better attended to and believed in than it is now- 
 a-days, and it was of great importance to Louis that 
 Baron de Watteville,i the London duplicate of the King 
 of Spain, should not be allowed to go before his own 
 representative. Watteville lived brilliantly in York 
 House, not far from Whitehall, spent much money, and 
 was very popular in London. It was obvious from the 
 first that, both being resolved, and supplied with means 
 to maintain their pretensions, a fight would ensue. As 
 in d'Estrades's duel, each had drawn an impassable line 
 behind his own heel. 
 
 In the month following the arrival of the French 
 Envoy, the fray was on the point of taking place, 
 but Charles intervened. It was then the custom 
 for ambassadors when they came to England, first to 
 establish themselves privately in their lodgings, and, 
 after they had spent some time and much money in 
 gilding their carriages and embroidering their servants, 
 to go back to Greenwich, to row up the Thames 
 opposite the Tower, and there to perform the ceremony 
 of a landing in state and an entrde into the town. 
 
 Venetian Ambassadors had just reached London, and 
 were to make their entree. But as large preparations 
 had been made by d'Estrades and Watteville to main- 
 tain their point to the bitter end, Charles had interposed 
 and persuaded the two not to send their carriages at all 
 
 ^ From Wattenvcil in Thurgovia ; his name is often spelt 
 Bateville ; he died in 1670. 
 
COMINGES'S PREDECESSOR, 23 
 
 to the entrde, and remain quietly at home. Hearing of 
 this pacific arrangement, young Louis angrily reminded 
 his Ambassador that such matters were no joke, and 
 that he was in earnest indeed : 
 
 " I confess that after what you had written in your 
 former dispatches concerning the entree of the 
 Venetian Ambassadors extraordinary in London, and 
 the preparations you were making to maintain in this 
 occasion the prerogatives due to my crown above all 
 the others, it could never have occurred to me that the 
 event would turn out and end as it has. I will not 
 conceal that I have been deeply impressed by two 
 things : the one that the King my brother has taken 
 part in this without necessity and in a rather unobliging 
 manner, as he seems to have been bent upon having 
 a complete equality established between me and my 
 brother the Catholic King. He cannot ignore however 
 the many reasons- for which the pre-eminence belongs 
 to me, and how I have been in possession of it in all 
 times and places. The other is that you have consented 
 to what he has let you know he wanted." The English 
 king is free to give what orders he pleases to his 
 subjects, but not to a foreign ambassador ; and if he 
 had persisted, d' Estrades ought to have at once retired 
 from his Court. ^ 
 
 With such instructions, our Ambassador, who was at 
 the same time a " Lieutenant general des armees du 
 Roi," could not fail to take the matter seriously, and 
 he wrote to Lionne : " I prepare to carry the thing the 
 next time to such a pitch that I am greatly mistaken if 
 the most difficult to please find anything to reproach 
 . ^ The King to d'Estradcs. August 22, 1661. 
 
24 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 me with." i Louis, on his part, remained on the watch, 
 and there are many letters in the volumes at the French 
 Foreign Office in which he, from day to day, fired the 
 zeal of his envoy. One day he informed d'Estrades of 
 taunts attributed to Watteville, and which had come to 
 his knowledge ; another day he had heard of the sending 
 to England of Count Strozzi as an Ambassador from 
 the Emperor, and wrote : *' Whether the said Count 
 Strozzi has notified his entree to you, or whether, to 
 please Watteville, he has not, I mean you to send your 
 coaches to meet him, and so to arrange as to make sure 
 they keep the rank due to me, and go before the 
 carriages of all the other Ambassadors. ... I will 
 not speak of the measures you have to take beforehand, 
 to be secure that your people will be able to keep their 
 rank during the march, well believing that you will 
 omit nothing in it." 2 
 
 Strozzi's entrde does not take place, but a little later 
 news comes of the arrival of a Swedish Ambassador. 
 The King on the 7th of October is careful to put his 
 Ambassador on his guard, for he has received some 
 secret information : ^' The information purports that 
 General Monk has promised the Baron de Watteville 
 to give him soldiers of his Scotch regiment with a few 
 Irish to strengthen the Spaniards and guard their 
 coach ; and, depending upon this help, the said Watte- 
 ville has resolved to be represented at the entree. 
 I know it for sure ; my information comes from the 
 house of Monk himself, and has been reported by one 
 of his most intimate confidants. The coach will go to 
 Tower Hill unattended, but the escort will be found 
 
 ^ To Lionne. August 22, 1661. ^ September 28, 1661. 
 
COMINGES'S PREDECESSOR. 25 
 
 ready there or in some of the streets where you are to 
 pass. I deem, therefore, that when once your coach 
 has taken the place due to it immediately after the 
 Swedish Ambassador's, your men must not leave it 
 before it has reached the house of the said Ambassador, 
 for fear that at the crossing of some street these Scotch 
 and Irish rush in with might and main and stop you 
 and let Watteville go." 
 
 But d'Estrades was already wound up to the proper 
 degree, for before the King's letter could have reached 
 him, he was on his side writing to Brienne the younger : 
 *' I am making the largest preparations possible ; the 
 Spanish Ambassador does his best to oppose me. The 
 event will take place on Monday." ^ Louis, on his 
 side, has nothing to add to what he has already 
 intimated, and no letter of his can possibly reach his 
 representative in time ; still he writes again, because he 
 is so impatient to hear of the issue, and just to say 
 that he is so : ** I have great impatience to know how 
 the ceremony will have gone, the more so as I can 
 scarcely doubt it will have been to your advantage and 
 to my satisfaction. For you have the word of the 
 King my brother, who has promised to second your 
 intentions ; and, besides, being so near the French 
 coast, and having at hand the garrison of Gravelines, 
 you will have been able to place yourself in such 
 a state as to prevent the Spaniards feeling any inclina- 
 tion to compete with you." D'Estrades was military 
 governor of Gravelines ; the idea suggested by tlie 
 King had already occurred to him, and he had caused 
 a troop of his own soldiers to be conveyed to London 
 ^ October 6, 1661. 
 
26 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 with their arms and equipage — a thing scarcely con- 
 ceivable now — in order to take part in the expected 
 " ceremony." 
 
 The morning of the loth of October came. On 
 that day Mr. Pepys rose very early. He had much 
 to do, business to transact and things various to 
 observe. The entree and the " fight for the pre- 
 cedence " were to take place on that day. Nothing 
 could better enliven the dull streets of the town than 
 such a fray, and therefore Mr. Pepys was all the day 
 long on tip-toe. 
 
 As soon as morning light came, there was a great 
 noise of " soldiers and people running up and down 
 the street ; " and Mr. Pepys hastened to and fro and 
 bustJed about as best he could. He peered at " the 
 Spanish Ambassador's and at the French, and there 
 saw great preparations on both sides ; but the French 
 made the most noise and ranted most, but the other 
 made no stir almost at all; so that I was afraid the 
 other would have too great a conquest over them." 
 Bent upon making a day of it (as indeed it was in 
 the history of the French and Spanish kingdoms) he 
 ran to Cheapside, as soon as he had had his meal, there 
 to hear that " the Spanish hath got the best of it, and 
 kill three of the French coach-horses and several men, 
 and is gone through the city next to our King's coach : 
 at which it is strange to see how all the city did rejoice." 
 Not so strange, however, for " we do naturally all love 
 the Spanish, and hate the French." 
 
 " As I am in all things curious," Mr. Pepys con- 
 tinues, writing at a time of the day when it was not so 
 well known as it is now that he was, indeed, curious in 
 
COMINGES'S PREDECESSOR. 27 
 
 all things, " I ran after them, through all the dirt and 
 the streets full of people, till at last, at the Mewes, I 
 saw the Spanish coach go, with fifty drawn swords at 
 least to guard it, and our soldiers shouting for joy. 
 And so I followed the coach, and then met it at York 
 House, where the Ambassador lies ; and there it went 
 in with great state." After which this mouche du coche 
 ran to " the French house," to enjoy the discomfiture 
 of the hated ones ; and a treat it was to see them, " for 
 they all look like dead men, and not a word among 
 them but shake their heads." To make things com- 
 plete, Mr. Pepys gathers and notes with delight that 
 " the French were at least four to one in number, and 
 had neare 100 case of pistols among them, and the 
 Spaniards had not one gun among them ; which is for 
 their honour for ever and the others' disgrace." He 
 could now go home, " having been very much daubed 
 with dirt," and triumph upon his wife, silly thing, who 
 sided with the French — a result, probably, of her being 
 so well read in La Caprenede and Scudery. 
 
 The result was received with great applause through- 
 out the capital, and pamphlets were circulated giving a 
 humorous account of the defeat suffered by the French. 
 " Many thousands of spectators came to behold this 
 strange and desperate conflict," we read in one of 
 those sheets, '* it being variously rumoured several 
 ways, but more especially a single duel betwixt these 
 two persons of honour, the Ambassadors extraordinary 
 from the illustrious and Christian princes, Spain and 
 France." The Spaniards displayed the utmost valour : 
 " Indeed it was the fortune of the mounsiers to 
 receive the greatest loss, five being^translated out of 
 
2 8 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 this world into another, and above thirty wounded, 
 with the loss of one Spaniard and very few wounded. 
 For indeed through their aboundant fortitude and 
 magnanitude, they became triumphant that day, it 
 being worthy of observation that an ancient man of 
 the Spanish party disputed several passes with six 
 Frenchmen." ^ 
 
 But as " il n'est si beau jour qui ne meine sa nuit/' 
 what was to be Spain's honour for ever did not keep 
 long its lustre. While this rejoicing was taking place, 
 d'Estrades was mournfully writing to Lionne : " As it 
 was not a thing I could do, to go myself, I had sent 
 my son ; and of the fifty men who were there with 
 him five were killed and thirty-three wounded. They 
 have had to deal with more than two hundred, and 
 there and wherever they have been attacked they have 
 done their duty." The Ambassador goes on recounting 
 the various proofs he has had already of the small 
 degree of popularity he enjoys with the London 
 rabble : " In the course of eight days 1 was twice in 
 danger of being assassinated and a musket ball went 
 through my hat ; soldiers and a mob have come to 
 attack me in my own house." ^ Of bullets d'Estrades 
 had a right to speak, having in former times received 
 some, not in his hat only, but in his body also. 
 
 ^ " A true relation of the manner of the dangerous dispute and 
 bloody conflict betwixt the Spaniards and the French at Tower 
 Wharfe and Tower Hill on Monday, September the 30th, 1661 
 [O. S.] . . . with the number killed and wounded on both sides . . . 
 published for general satisfaction " (a copy at the French Foreign 
 Ofiice, "Angleterre," vol. Ixxvi.). 
 
 2 October 13, 1661. 
 
KING LOUIS XIV 
 
 From the engraving by Nanteuil 
 "Ad vivum, 1664" 
 
COMINGES'S PREDECESSOR. 29 
 
 Great was the anger of the sovereign who prided 
 himself upon " being the first King among Christians 
 and to be known as such in the courts of all the other 
 kings, even in the remotest countries." ^ He felt as if 
 he had read Mr. Pepys's own diary, and did not rest till 
 he had washed away the memory of this " disgrace." 
 " I am in such a hurry," he wrote, " to let this gentle- 
 man start . . . that I will not, by far, tell you all 
 I want, concerning what has happened to you. Well 
 may you believe that I have deeply resented those 
 insults as their nature binds me to, and my honour 
 being at stake. I hope with the help of God, and 
 through the vigour of the resolutions I am taking, the 
 which I shall carry as far as people will make it 
 necessary, that those who have caused me this dis- 
 pleasure will soon be more sorry for it and anxious 
 than I ever was." - 
 
 No vain threats. The elegant young prince, with 
 a flood of wavy hair round his beautiful face, scarcely 
 out of the keeping of his mother and of the late 
 Mazarin, was true to his word, and it was soon obvious 
 that Watteville had mistaken his own master and his 
 time. While Charles 11. was asking another great 
 diarist of his day, John Evelyn, to draw up a *' narra- 
 tive in vindication of his Majesty, and of the carriage 
 of his officers and standers-by," 3 King Louis the 
 Fourteenth, who had at once expelled the Spanish 
 Ambassador from his Court, got from his father-in-law 
 all the satisfaction he wanted. Watteville was recalled ; 
 
 ^ Instructions to d'Estradcs, May 13, 1661. 
 
 2 October 16, 1661. 
 
 3 "Evelyn's Diary," under the date Oct. i. 1661 (O.S.). 
 
30 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 it was settled that henceforth Spanish Ambassadors 
 would cease to compete for precedence with the most 
 Christian King's envoys ; and a medal was struck, one 
 of the finest in the royal collection, to commemorate 
 the event. I 
 
 Louis gave his full approbation to d'Estrades, who, 
 this time had not hesitated to leave the English Court ; 
 but he could not doubt that the continuation of the 
 same Ambassador's services in England, would not be 
 conducive to the close union with that kingdom which 
 was a part of his policy. He therefore, after having 
 sent him back for a short while to London, decided to 
 appoint him his ambassador to the States of Holland. 
 
 D'Estrades was staying in Paris when he received 
 the visit of Richard Bellings sent to him by the 
 English Chancellor on a special mission. *' I am sorry," 
 he wrote to Lionne, on the 17th of July, 1662, 
 *' not to be able to go to St. Germains to speak of 
 an affair which will not displease his Majesty, nay, 
 and is very advantageous to him. The Chancellor of 
 England has sent me a person in his confidence, with 
 a letter accrediting him. Were you to come to Paris 
 I would tell you what are the proposals." The pro- 
 posals were of the sale of Dunkirk ; the negotiation 
 was knotty and arduous. After a long bargaining on 
 both sides, in which Colbert had to say his word, and 
 several sham break-offs, the matter was arranged for five 
 millions of livres. D'Estrades, after one last stay in 
 England, had the honour to take possession of the town 
 in the name of his master. The first two millions 
 
 ^ The die of which still exists at the Hotel des Monnaies, 
 Paris. 
 
COMINGES'S PREDECESSOR. 31 
 
 were at once embarked on five boats, and taken to the 
 Tower, where they were honoured with a personal 
 visit from the King : '^ The money told at Calais for 
 the sale of Dunkirk has arrived, and has been located at 
 the Tower, where the King of England would go and 
 see it, when he was having his ride this morning 
 towards ' Ouleiks.' " By which word. Secretary of 
 Embassy Batailler, means Woolwich.-^ 
 
 D'Estrades, having thus redeemed his character as a 
 servant of the State, could now go to Holland, where, 
 however, the inimical fates were already preparing for 
 him another difficulty on the score of punctilio. This 
 time he stood his ground against the Prince of Orange, 
 and managed so as not to be worsted. He risked 
 nothing less than his life in it, but succeeded. '' Tues- 
 day last," Sir George Qowning, the English envoy, 
 reports to Clarendon, ''there was another rencontre in 
 the Foreholt between the Prince of Orange and 
 Monsieur d'Estrades, the French Ambassador their 
 coaches, between four and five in the afternoon. . . . 
 No sword drawn on either side, nor a blow given ; 
 but the people began to flock in infinite numbers, ... 
 and it was most evident that, had but one stroke been 
 given, d'Estrades and his coach and horses had been 
 buried upon the place and his house plundered and 
 pulled down to the ground." D'Estrades ^'alleged, 
 which is true, that once before the Prince had yielded 
 to him ; but Monsieur Zulestein says, that at that time 
 the Prince had not his own coachman, but another who 
 was not experienced in those things, and that it was 
 
 ^ To Louis, Dec. 4, 1662. A medal was struck, with the 
 motto : "Dunquerca recuperata providentia principis," M.CLXII. 
 
32 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 done unawares." " But, you see,'* Downing wisely 
 concludes, " how dangerous it is to make slips, he 
 having once unawares quitted the rail, the French 
 Ambassador stood upon it, that he ought to do it the 
 second time." ^ Thus did d'Estrades clear himself of 
 the aspersions of Mr. Pepys. 
 
 ' The Hague, April 29, 1664, O.S. Lister's "Life of Claren- 
 don." London, 1838, 3 vols. 8vo., vol. ii. p. 314. Concerning the 
 parts of d'Estrades's correspondence which were published in the 
 last century, and the spurious documents mixed with it, see laros- 
 lav Goll's two articles in the " Revue Historique," 1877. 
 
CHAPTER IL 
 
 COMINGES. 
 
 D'ESTRADES being gone, Louis and his adviser, 
 Lionne, chose, to replace him at the British 
 Court, the Comte de Cominges, a well-known 
 diplomatist and soldier, who was, according to St. 
 Simon, *' important toute sa vie." He was now in 
 the fiftieth year of his age, and had done and seen 
 much. 
 
 Gaston Jean Baptiste de Cominges (or Comenge), 
 Seigneur of St. Fort, Fleac, and La Reole, born in 
 1613, was the son of Charles de Cominges, who died at 
 the siege of Pignerol.^ His family prided itself upon 
 an immeasurable antiquity, the first of their ancestors 
 known by name being, according to Moreri, Anevius, 
 who is said to have flourished about the year 900. St. 
 Simon, who was not a man to adopt easily such views, 
 quietly says that " people do not know what they 
 
 ^ Cominges's arms form one of the plates of the " Armorial du 
 St. Esprit " (Chalcographie du Louvre) ; his monogram has been 
 reproduced by Bouvenne, " Les monogrammes historiques," Paris, 
 1870, p. 35. 
 
34 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 were before the year 1440." Certain it is that at the 
 time we are speaking of they were solidly established 
 in the world with an uncle, the kindly irascible old 
 Guitaut, as Captain of the Bodyguards of Anne of 
 Austria, the Queen-mother, and with the splendid 
 chateau of Epoisses, not far from Semur, as the chief 
 place and, so to say, the capital of the family. A part 
 of the castle was since then raised to the ground during 
 the Great Revolution, but the largest part, with a 
 tower dating back from the tenth century, from the 
 time, in fact, of the misty Anevius, is still to be seen, 
 and still belongs to the family. Very fine it looks 
 with its tall mossy roofs, its thick walls, its sculptured 
 balconies and terraces, and the roses and chrysanthe- 
 mums that bloom on the declivity of the old dried-up 
 moat. Many remembrances are kept there of former 
 illustrious guests ; there is Conde's room and Madame 
 de Sevigne's chamber ; and in the precious well-kept 
 archives, a large bundle of the Marchioness's letters 
 with the seal and silk string still attached to them, 
 written in the large handwriting and with the free 
 thought orthography of the matchless lady. Anevius's 
 portrait is not there ; but there are countless Cominges 
 and Guitauts, periwigged warriors in cuirasses, knights 
 of the Holy Ghost, abbots and abbesses, ladies with 
 powdered hair, marshals of France, and presidents of 
 Parliament. In the '' chambre du roi " old Guitaut 
 stares at a pretty proud young person who may or 
 may not be the Montespan ; and on the painted walls 
 of the corridor Roman heroes and Arcadian shepherds 
 enjoy their glory and their loves according to the fashion 
 of the time. Cannon balls from a siege recall warlike 
 
COMINGES, 35 
 
 times ; the old chapel remains untouched, but has 
 become the village church, and the little houses built 
 for canons have been allotted to retired gardeners and 
 other old servants of the family. 
 
 A descendant of warriors, Cominges went early to 
 the wars, took part in the sieges of St. Omer, Hesdin, 
 Arras, and Aire, and was made, in 1644, under his 
 uncle Guitaut, a lieutenant of the Bodyguards of the 
 Queen-mother. From this date he always enjoyed the 
 confidence of Anne of Austria, who entrusted to his 
 uncle and to him several missions not a little difficult 
 to perform, in which, however, they proved successful. 
 To him it was she applied to have the notorious and 
 popular Broussel, " the idol of the people," removed 
 from Paris in the midst of the Fronde agitation. He 
 stopped the old man " without allowing him to eat his 
 dinner or even to resume his shoes which he had just 
 taken off, but placed him in a coach and carried him 
 away. A strange thing happened. As they were 
 Hearing the palace, the coach broke and Cominges 
 asked ladies who were passing by to lend him theirs, 
 offering his excuses, and assuring them that nothing 
 else than such a case would have induced him to show 
 so much incivility. So he took the quay and reached 
 the St. Honore Gate." ^ To the last we shall find 
 Cominges such as he appeared on this occasion ; he 
 will never allow any Broussel time to put on his shoes, 
 but while keeping his Broussels in hand, he will always 
 find time to fulfil the duties of etiquette. To both 
 the uncle and nephew was assigned the no less delicate 
 
 ^ "Mcmoires de Nicolas Goulas," ed. C, Constant, Paris, 1879, 
 3 vol. 8vo., vol. ii. p. 349. 
 
36 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 task to remove from the very Louvre to the Donjon 
 de Vincennes, the Princes Conde and Conti, and the 
 Duke de Longueville (1650).! They severally "walked 
 to each of the Princes, and after having paid to them 
 their very respectful compliments, they stopped them 
 in the name of the King." 2 
 
 In the intervals of his military duties and of his 
 various missions Cominges found time to study ; he 
 enjoyed a reputation at Court for being a man of 
 thought and knowledge as well as a good swords- 
 man and a good guitarist. We find him fighting a 
 duel in 1639 : '^And as this month was notable for 
 the number of nuptials that then happened, so was it 
 also," writes Bassompierre, '* by the number of the 
 duels, such as those by d'Armentieres, de Savignac, de 
 Bouquant, de Roquelaure, ds Chatelus, de Cominges, 
 and others." 5 Cominges's duel was as serious as 
 d'Estrades's, for he, too, killed his man. The famous 
 Chapelain, the author of " La Pucelle," informed as 
 follows the Marchioness de Flamarens of what had 
 happened : " M. de Richefons has fought for the 
 second time against M. de Cominges, and this time 
 has received two mortal wounds. Fie has, however, 
 had four days' time to prepare himself to his death and 
 beg pardon to God for his sins.. The quarrel was an 
 irreconcilable one, that could only be ended by the death 
 of one of the two. I think you will do well to express 
 
 ' Cominges wrote an account of it, and it has been published 
 with biographical notes by Tamizey de Larroque, " Revue des 
 questions historiques," October i, 1871. 
 
 2 Choisy's " Memoires," Lescure's edition, bk. vi. vol. i. p. 51. 
 
 3 "Memoires," Paris, 1870, 4 vols. 8vo., vol. iv. p. 293. 
 
COMINGES. 37 
 
 your feelings of condolence to Madame de la Troussc 
 on this occasion."' ^ 
 
 As for the guitar, Cominges' skill on this instrument 
 is honourably mentioned by Madame de Motteville, 
 who relates how young Louis the Fourteenth, being 
 very fond of music, asked her own brother to play his 
 part with Cominges *' in the guitar concerts which the 
 King had nearly every day.'' 2 
 
 Endowed with such accomplishments and an equally 
 acceptable companion in times of peace and war, Co- 
 minges found, as it seems, no great difficulty in pleasing 
 the beautiful Sibylle d'Amalbi, who had rejected several 
 other suitors, and whom he married in 1643. Sh^> ^^o> 
 became famous as the Cesonie of the Precieuses group, 
 and as *' la belle Cominges " of the great monarch's 
 Court. " Cesonie," writes Somaize, in his *' Diction- 
 naire des Precieuses," " is a Court Precieuse. She is very 
 witty ; she has a fine throat ; she sometimes uses 
 Hesperian produce [/.^., Spanish paint]. She likes the 
 play ; she does not keep a regular alcove^ for Court 
 ladies do not follow rules in this matter. She lives in 
 the palace of Seneca " 3 \i.e.^ the Palais Royal, built by 
 Richelieu]. 
 
 At a time when portraits were the fashion, when 
 Mdlle. de Scudery filled her novels with descriptions of 
 her friends, and Madame de Sevigne, Madame de la 
 Fayette, and all the rest of the im^ witty ladies of the 
 day, rivalled one another in drawing portraits, Cesonie 
 
 ' "Lettres," cd. Tamizcy de Larroque, Paris, 1880, 2 vols., \to, 
 vol. i. p. 405. 
 
 2 "Memoires," 1876, vol. iv. p. 90 (1657). 
 
 3 Livet's edition, 1856, vol. i. p. 55. 
 
38 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 would not fail to be portrayed, and descriptions of her 
 in verse and prose abound. We gather from a portrait 
 made of her under the name of Emilie that she was 
 not tall, but so perfect in her proportions that it is not 
 possible to conceive how she could look better if taller. 
 " She has such a pretty childish look and touching little 
 ways that it is an impossibility not to love her." Her 
 nose is thin and straight; her hair, somewhat loose, 
 *' of the finest colour in the world " (whatever that 
 may be). The whiteness of her complexion " mixes 
 so delicately with the pink of her cheeks that this 
 masterpiece of nature has sometimes been suspected ; 
 but as she reddens in society, it is easy to understand 
 that, if the red she has were of her own making, she 
 would arrange so as not to be troubled with it out of 
 time." The indiscreet author continues telling us how 
 she has the finest \tg and foot in the world, so perfect 
 indeed *' that there are few men who would not be 
 pleased to have such," a compliment which we need a 
 little history to make us understand, and which would 
 not be thus expressed in our sans-culottist days. 
 
 With so many public and private perfections, the 
 Belle Cominges, nevertheless, was modest ; " her eyes 
 have reigned over a thousand hearts, but she has never 
 given her own away. . . . She does as the gods who 
 accept prayers and sacrifices, and she considers that she 
 does enough in not scorning proffered homages." She 
 is a faithful friend, and a lively partner in conversation. 
 Her only fault is that she sometimes feels depressed 
 and melancholy without reason. She then retires from 
 the world, and remains whole days nursing her sorrow ; 
 she then appears again in society, and shines with such 
 
COMINGES. 39 
 
 splendour that it is impossible to conceive she knows 
 what sadness is. " She plays very well on the lute, and 
 sings like an angel." ^ 
 
 Versified gazettes of the time are full of her praise ; 
 whenever there is a splendid fete she is sure to. be 
 named amongst the prettiest guests.^ 
 
 She turns the head of many, and works ravages in 
 the royal family itself Of course people who pretended 
 that the pink on her cheeks came from " Hesperia " 
 were not slow in discovering, saying, and printing that 
 hers was a sham coldness, and that she overstepped more 
 than once the line which divides love and friendship ; 
 but, of course, too, they were slanderers, and the best 
 thing to do is not to believe them. 
 
 When she was with child the Court was troubled at 
 the idea her beauty would be impaired ; and the gazettes 
 informed the world at large of her gradual recovery and 
 the coming back of her incarnat : " Her sweet, laughing 
 eyes — had become less attractive — Cupid languished by 
 her side." But she is improving apace, and now she is 
 quite well ; let lovers look to themselves ! *' Hearts 
 
 ^ " Recueil de portraits et eloges en vers et en prose, dedie a 
 S. A. R. Mademoiselle." Paris, i6i;9, 2 vols., 8vo. (anonymous). 
 =2 At a ball given at the Louvre, in September, 1655, 
 
 •' I-c beau Marquis de Villeroy . . . 
 Menait Comminge;" 
 
 While the King (then seventeen) danced with — 
 
 " L'infante Manciny, 
 Des plus sages et gracieuses 
 Et la perle des prccieuses." 
 
 Loret, "La Muze historique," 1650-1665, ed. Ravenel and de 
 la Pelouze, Paris, 1857 et seq., vol. ii. p. 98. 
 
40 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 that feel the allurements of charms divine — and know 
 what it is to love — if you want to remain free — believe 
 me, do not see her ! ... If you are wise — it will be 
 enough for your rest — that you mind this piece of 
 news: — La Belle Cominges est guerie.'' ^ 
 
 Cominges had by her three sons and two daughters ; 
 the sons became soldiers, and fought in the King's wars, 
 one of them being killed in Germany ; of the daughters, 
 one married, and the other became a nun. The eldest 
 son was an aide-de-camp to Louis, and was held in 
 great esteem and friendship by the King ; he was re- 
 markable both by his height and size, and his bulk was 
 the occasion of constant jests, which he sometimes 
 allowed and sometimes did not. *' The courtiers 
 during the campaigns of the King," says St. Simon, 
 *' called, by joke, the bombs and mortars of the largest 
 size, des Cominges^ so that the word has become their 
 technical name in artillery. Cominges considered this 
 joke a very bad one, and could never get accustomed to 
 it " ; but people did, and the word is still in use : 
 " Cominges — sorte de grosse bombe," says Littre. 
 
 In 1653-4, Cominges followed the wars in Italy and 
 Spain ; from 1657 to 1659 he was Ambassador to 
 
 ^ " Coeurs aux divins atraits sensibles 
 Qui d'amour ctes susceptibles, 
 Pour vous sauver de ses apas, 
 Croyez moi, ne la voyez pas . . . 
 Bref, vous conseillant a propos, 
 II suffit pour votre repos 
 De dire a votre Seigneurie : 
 La belle Comminge est guarie." 
 
 Loret, "La Muze historique," vol. i. p. 400 (1653). 
 
COMINGES. 41 
 
 Portugal,^ and not long after his return was appointed, 
 at the same time as his uncle Guitaut, a Knight of the 
 Holy Ghost (December, 1661). The following year 
 saw him Ambassador to England, where he was joined 
 by his wife and eldest son : this, his last mission, is the 
 one for which he especially deserves to be remembered. 
 
 ^ On his Portuguese mission, see Tamizey de Larroque, " Lettres 
 du Comte de Cominges, 1657-1659," Pons, 1885, 8vo., and Vi- 
 comte de Caix de St. Aymour, "Recueil des instructions aux Am- 
 bassadcurs de France — Portugal." Paris, 1886, i vol. 8vo. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE TONE AND MANNER OF THE CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 COMINGES reached London on the 23rd of 
 December, 1662 (O.S.), after having had a very- 
 bad crossing ^' in the yacht of Monsieur le due 
 d'York." In his first letter to the King he thus de- 
 scribes his journey in his usual Court style : — 
 
 *' Sire, I would not mention to your Majesty the 
 inconveniences I suffered in my journey on account of 
 the floods, if I were not bound to do so to explain the 
 length of the time I spent on the way. Not that I 
 failed to constrain, so to say, the very elements to sub- 
 mit to your Majesty's wishes ; but all I could do, after 
 having avoided two or three land-wrecks and escaped a 
 tempest by sea, was to reach this place on December 
 23, English style." ^ 
 
 From this day forth a double, not to say a treble, 
 correspondence begins : an official one with the King, 
 a more familiar one with Lionne, and we find frag- 
 ments of a third one, containing only Court news, 
 and destined again to the King, but not in his kingly 
 capacity . Young Louis greatly appreciated those sepa- 
 
 ^ To the King. January 4, 1663. 
 

TONE AND MANNER OF CORRESPONDENCE. 45 
 
 rate sheets of worldly information, and Lionne several 
 times begs the Ambassador not to forget them. No 
 wonder this was so with a prince of twenty-four ; the 
 real wonder is the personal care and attention with 
 which the official correspondence was attended to by 
 him, to the extent indeed of his being jealous of the 
 private letters sent to Lionne by Cominges : " Though 
 I always show to the King," Lionne writes, "the private 
 letters with which you honour me, and that it might 
 appear that it comes to the same, as his Majesty is 
 equally well-informed, be the letter for him or for me, 
 you must always, if you please, write direct to his 
 Majesty, even when you have nothing else to say than 
 that you have nothing to say. Write to me only three 
 lines for the forwarding of the packet. I clearly saw the 
 advantage of this plan when I read to his Majesty the 
 last letter with which you favoured me ; for he then 
 inquired why you did not write rather to himself. I 
 answered that the cause was probably the want of any 
 matter of sufficient importance. . . . But I think his 
 Majesty did not hold this reason a sufficient one, and 
 that he prefers you to do otherwise. You will also 
 please him very much in continuing what you so 
 handsomely began, and forwarding in a separate sheet 
 the most curious of the Court news." ^ 
 
 In his attention to business Louis was truly great ; 
 and he adhered all his life to his former resolve. He 
 could in later years render to himself a testimony which 
 is fully borne out by the huge mass of correspondence in 
 the French archives. " I gave myself, as a law,*' we 
 read in his Memoirs, " to work regularly twice a day, 
 ^ August 5, 1663. 
 
44 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 for two or three hours each time, with various persons, 
 without speaking of the hours I spent working by my- 
 self. . . . There was no moment when it was not 
 allowed to speak to me about business if there was any 
 urgency. I only excepted foreign ministers, who some- 
 times find in the familiarity allowed to them too favour- 
 able means to reach their ends or gather an insight into 
 affairs. They ought not to be heard without prepara- 
 tion. I cannot say all the fruit 1 drew from the 
 following of this plan. 1 felt as if my mind and courage 
 were elated, and I discovered in myself what I did not 
 suspect. . . . Then only it seemed to me that I was 
 indeed a King, and born to be one." ^ 
 
 There is no vainglory in this, and not a word that 
 is not supported by facts. When d'Estrades was 
 Louis's Ambassador in London, he had, not perhaps 
 without some wonder, received a letter beginning 
 thus: '' Fontainebleau, August 5, 1661. Monsieur 
 d'Estrades, I have resolved to answer myself all the 
 letters I have asked my Ambassadors to write to me 
 under cover of M. de Lionne, when the business is of 
 importance and requires secrecy. And to begin this 
 day with you. . . ." 
 
 Lionne on the same day had given d'Estrades full 
 particulars of the way in which this plan was carried 
 out, and his letter introduces us into the very closet of 
 the King : " Those who believed that our master 
 would soon tire of business " — the Queen-mother for 
 one, may it be said en passant — *'were greatly mis- 
 taken ; the more we go, the greater pleasure he takes 
 
 ^ "Memoires de Louis XIV.," ed. Dreyss, Paris, i860, 2 vols., 
 8vo., vol. ii. pp. 386 and 427. 
 
TONE AND MANNER OF CORRESPONDENCE. 45 
 
 in devoting himself entirely to it. Of this you will find 
 a convincing proof in the enclosed dispatch, where you 
 will see how his Majesty has resolved to answer himself 
 all the letters of his Ambassadors on the more im- 
 portant and secret affairs . . . This thought occurred 
 to him spontaneously, and well may you believe that 
 no one would have been so bold as to propose to him 
 that he should take so much trouble. ... In this 
 manner are Kings apprenticed to greatness, and 
 I wonder whether, since France is a monarchy, there 
 has been any King to take upon himself such a heavy 
 task, or one more useful for himself and for the welfare 
 and glory of his people and his State. 
 
 " Things are arranged thus. I have the honour to 
 read to him, after they have been deciphered, the more 
 secret dispatches directed to him under my cover. He 
 then does me the honour of retaining me, and telling 
 me his intentions concerning the answer. I work at it 
 in his presence and under his eye, article after article, 
 and his Majestv checks me when I do not adhere 
 quite closely to his idea." The work being done, the 
 dispatch is ciphered, and then his Majesty signs it with 
 his own hand, " and not with a borrowed hand, as is 
 the custom when he has to do with his Secretaries of 
 State." Lionne as we know had not that title. ^ 
 
 The correspondence at the French Foreign Office 
 constantly shows the personal interference of the King» 
 and brings into light the care and attention with which 
 he read his envoys' reports. He over and over again 
 asks them to draw up for him memoirs on the more 
 
 ' August 5, 1 66 1. Lionne became Secretary of State in April, 
 1663. 
 
46 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 obscure points of the institutions of the countries where 
 they reside, and from Lionne's private letters we gather 
 that far from putting aside the bulky documents when 
 they came in, he read them and pored over them with 
 great industry and patience. His thirst for knowledge 
 in political matters was truly insatiable. We shall see 
 him by and by asking Cominges to write for him 
 reports concerning English Parliaments, navy, cur- 
 rency,! religion, wars, nay, and even literature. 
 
 If he falls ill he stops his work for as short a time as 
 possible, and resumes it again long before he is out of 
 the physician's hands. In 1663 ^^ catches the measles, 
 and Lionne forwards to Cominges the following only 
 too graphic description of the sufferings of the 
 monarch : — 
 
 " Owing to your being abroad you will have escaped 
 the mortal fright we had for two days last week, for 
 you will hear of the King being well again at the same 
 time as you learn he has been ill. When the last 
 ordinary left for England, his Majesty who had come 
 the day before to Versailles, had been scarcely touched 
 yet by the disease ; but it soon declared itself, and it 
 was discovered with a sorrow you can well imagine that 
 
 ^ " Quand je partis de la Cour, S. M. me commanda de lui 
 donner quelque connaissance de la monnaie d'Angleterre. Vous 
 trouverezdans votre paquet un petit memoire que je vous prie de Lui 
 presenter." (Cominges to Lionne, February 26, 1663.) Cominges 
 goes on to say that the French louis received on account of the 
 sale of Dunkirk are about to be turned into English crowns; but 
 their stay in England will not last very long. " Ce sont nos louis 
 blancs que Ton va travestir en crownes, et si I'acquisition de 
 Dunkerque nous les.a ravis, les vins de Gascogne nous les rapporte- 
 ront." 
 

 TONE AND MANNER OF CORRESPONDENCE. 47 
 
 it was the measles. He had caught it from his &eing 
 constantly with the Queen when she was attacked by 
 the same. You know perhaps that this disease is never 
 free from danger for patients above twenty ; and it is 
 impossible in fact to be more ill than the King was all 
 the day and night of the Thursday, and the morning of 
 the Friday till noon. I am still shaking with horror 
 when I think of it. There was a very violent fever, 
 and great oppression in the chest, a furious headache, 
 a dry cough, and qualms, and a looseness of the bowels, 
 which never allowed him a moment's rest. From 
 Friday noon all went better and better ; his body was 
 covered with measles, which is as good a symptom as 
 one can wish. For it is necessary Nature should have 
 power to push outside the venom which otherwise 
 seizes upon and oppresses the heart, and in this lies all 
 the peril. The King from that hour felt quite free, 
 . . . and to make you better understand what are 
 the temper and health of our master, know you that 
 this Prince, whose life physicians considered still in 
 jeopardy a quarter before twelve on Friday, worked 
 after dinner as usual for three hours with M. le Tellier 
 and myself on the Saturday, that is yesterday. We are 
 summoned for to-day, at the same hour, and I shall 
 read to his Majesty your dispatch of the 28th, as I had 
 the honour of reading to him yesterday the preceding 
 one, bearing the date of the 24th." ^ 
 
 Three days later the King himself resumes his corre- 
 spondence with Cominges, and after having expressed 
 his regret that he was not able, owing to the malady, 
 to answer sooner the two above-mentioned letters, he 
 ^ To Cominges. June 3, 1663. 
 
48 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 enters again on the discussion of the intended treaty 
 with England, and inquires as to the deahngs of 
 Charles with the Spaniard.^ 
 
 He was too young, however, not to be sometimes 
 more jocose, and as Cominges was in a manner a friend 
 and familiar of the house, he sometimes sent to him 
 kindly amusing epistles which must have cheered 
 the heart of the faithful diplomatist and soldier. 
 Answering at the same time one of the numerous 
 complaints of Cominges concerning the weight of the 
 expenses he had to bear, and alluding to an absurd 
 accusation of Spanish tendencies launched against the 
 Ambassador, Louis writes : "I never knew I had 
 made choice of a Spaniard to intrust him with all my 
 affairs in England. The London air must have very 
 powerful qualities to have turned Castilian a heart 
 which I considered more French and fuller of zeal for 
 my service than any I knew. I am, however, so 
 stubborn that though you have proved a turn -coat, 
 I will not alter my early judgment of you, and I am 
 resolved to continue and trust myself to that rebellious 
 heart. I have even ordered this morning to the Sieur 
 Colbert, to report to me concerning your salary, in 
 case the thing has not been settled even before you 
 wrote. Do not fail in the meantime to serve my royal 
 father-in-law in the same way as you have done till 
 now. It will give me great satisfaction, so affec- 
 tionately I take part in what concerns him." - 
 
 Cominges answered, we may well believe, with many 
 bows and courtesies, not forbearing however to have, he 
 too, his joke, to say his say and state his opinion. He 
 ^ June 6, 1663. "" June 6, 1663. 
 
TONE AND MANNER OF CORRESPONDENCE. 49 
 
 was of course more free-spoken with Lionne, to 
 whom his most amusing letters are directed, but he 
 did not think that characteristic trifles were outside 
 the pale of diplomatic correspondence. The main 
 difl^erence between the two sets of letters lies in the 
 literary care with which he tried, when addressing 
 the King, to group and arrange the compound parts 
 of his speech. He had obviously a classic ideal before 
 his eyes ; nearly everybody had one in those days ; 
 Ambassadors' dispatches were dispatches with porti- 
 coes. Having once drawn up a regular exordium for 
 one of his letters, he explains to the King that he 
 thought proper to do so, " in order to give this 
 dispatch a shape, and not to send it to your Majesty 
 as an uncouth monster without a head and feet." ^ His 
 verbal communications, even, were prepared with care, 
 and Quinctilian's precepts were appropriately re- 
 membered. He once applies for an appointment to 
 discuss important matters with Charles, and gets it 
 much earlier than he had foreseen. *' Such haste," he 
 writes, " might have staggered me, if I had not luckily 
 spent all the night in preparing what I had to say 
 and giving it a shape which, without derogating from 
 the dignity of the matter, was not devoid of such 
 pleasant insinuations as would secure for me a more 
 attentive hearing." 2 
 
 The means of conveying this correspondence were 
 various. There were special messengers ; but the 
 Ambassador as well as the King used also the '' ordi- 
 naires," that is, the common post. There was only one 
 delivery each week in Paris and in London. The 
 
 ^ January 25, 1663. ^ March 26, 1663. 
 
 4 
 
50 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 Paris '^ordinaire" left every Sunday at noon.^ Am- 
 bassadors were careful, when using the post, to cipher 
 the more important parts of their letters ; a very use- 
 ful precaution, for packets were constantly tampered 
 with, and there were recriminations and protests on 
 both sides of the Channel. Sometimes the opening of 
 the letters takes place in England, and Louis's agent 
 informs him how two clerks of the post have been dis- 
 covered to have accepted two thousand 'pistoles from 
 that evil-minded person Watteville, and how Charles 
 has declared that they will be hanged, so that the thing 
 will never happen again. But it did. Sometimes the 
 same operation is carried on in France, and then the 
 London merchants do not hesitate to make " un sabat 
 de diables." In his correspondence with his sister, 
 Madame, Duchess of Orleans, Charles the Second con- 
 stantly complains of their letters being opened at the 
 post. Cominges, on his side, leaves to the Marquis de 
 Ruvigny, who is going back to France, the care of in- 
 forming his Majesty " of many particularities of which it 
 is dangerous to write. They have here tricks to open 
 letters more skilfully than anywhere in the world. 
 Some even go the length of fancying that it is the 
 thing to do {cela a le hel air), and that it is not possible 
 to be a great statesman without tampering with 
 packets. "2 
 
 Accidents on the road were sometimes also the cause 
 of delay in the delivery and deciphering of the letters. 
 '^ One of your letters/' Cominges writes to Lionne, 
 '' happened to be in the pocket of a courier who got 
 
 I And later, every Saturday. Cominges to Lionne. September 
 II, 1664. ^ To the King. January 8, 1665. 
 
TONE AND MANNER OF CORRESPONDENCE. 51 
 
 drowned near Boulogne. It was recovered in such a 
 bad state that it is almost impossible to use it, and you 
 would do well to send me another with the same con- 
 tents." I Again there are occasions when the weather 
 is so bad that there is no crossing for eight days.^ 
 
 Another means of corresponding was to use the cover 
 of a third person, in order not to rouse the curiosity of 
 postal officers. '^ If you will sometimes write to me 
 under cover of a merchant," says Cominges, '' you 
 can address your letters to M. Ay me, surgeon, ' Rue 
 Rose Straet,' in the Common Garden, and I will send 
 mine to M. Simonnet, banker, in Paris." 3 This was 
 a very simple means of eluding official inquisitiveness, 
 so simple indeed, easy and obvious, that it is not quite 
 certain it has entirely fallen into disuse. 
 
 ^ April 9, 1663. 
 
 2 Batailler (secretary to d'Estrades) to the King. November 30, 
 1662. 3 To Lionne. January 8, 1663. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 
 
 WHEN an ambassador writes of a street called 
 *' Rue Rose Straet," his knowledge of English 
 may well be doubted. In the case of Cominges 
 no doubt is possible ; he never knew a word, and never 
 could catch a sound, or a syllable of it. He did not even 
 suspect, as we see, that the words Rue and street had a 
 similaCr meaning. He seems, to his honour be it said, to 
 have objected on this account to his own appointment 
 to London ; but his objection was over-ruled, as well it 
 might be : appointments to England would have been 
 difficult indeejd if the King had expected from his envoys 
 a knowledge of English. Cominges, as well as most 
 among his predecessors and successors for a long time 
 (d'Estrades, however, being an exception), made not 
 the faintest approach to an understanding of the 
 simplest words. He and his successors write of the 
 Dukes of Boquinquan and Momous, of the Milords 
 Ladredel, Pitrebaro, and Fichardin ; of " the King 
 going to Oiiindsor, the Queen to Bristau, and Madame 
 to Qinzinton," of the Court moving to Omtoncourt ; of 
 the religion of the Kakers, Caquiers, or Coaquiers ; of a 
 
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 53 
 
 stay at Wlidge and at Tonnebriche, of ''la petite 
 Genins," and so on ; meaning the not unknown names 
 of Buckingham, Monmouth, Lauderdale, Peterborough, 
 Fitzhardin, Windsor, Bristol, Kensington, Hampton 
 Court, Quakers, Woolwich, Tunbridge, Jennings. 
 
 No wonder, therefore, that the simplest words would 
 acquire in the judgment of the Ambassador a sort of 
 mysterious power. A very witty letter being read at 
 Court in the royal circle, Cominges thus describes the 
 admiration it elicited : '^ Whereupon every one cried, 
 Very wel^ very wel ! The Comte de Gramont will 
 explain to your Majesty the energy and strength of this 
 English sentence." ^ 
 
 We see at a later date Cominges, Courtin, and 
 Verneuil, the three having been appointed together 
 Ambassadors extraordinary to England, forwarding to 
 France the speech from the throne, and remarking on 
 its contents : " We forward you a translation of the 
 speeches of the King of Great Britain and his Chan- 
 cellor. The author of it assures us that it is a very 
 faithflil one ; he begs only to be excused for having 
 followed the turn of the English sentences, and he says 
 that M. le Chancelier is obscure in his expressions. 
 We must trust him in this, as we do not know the 
 language, and all we can do is to assure you that he did 
 his best and took great trouble in trying to translate 
 accurately the more important places." 2 
 
 In the same manner, in later years, the Comte de 
 Broglie, Ambassador to England during the minority of 
 Louis XV., goes sometimes to the *' Drerum," and 
 sometimes to the '' Driwrome," of the Princess of 
 
 ^ To the King. November 6, 1664.. ^ November i, 1665. 
 
54 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 Wales, and describes at great length in his corres- 
 pondence the political feuds between the " wichs " and 
 the " thoris." 
 
 The " Journal des S^avans " was for many years 
 scarcely better informed ; learned as were its contri- 
 butors, their ignorance of English was complete. In 
 1665 a characteristic little note appeared in the paper, 
 intimating that *' the Royal Society of London pub- 
 lishes day by day a number of excellent works ; but as 
 they are mostly written in the English language it has 
 been impossible till now to review them in this j jurnal. 
 But we have at last secured an English interpreter (un 
 interprete anglais), thanks to whom our paper will be 
 henceforth enriched with notices of the best things pub- 
 lished in England." We accordingly find afterwards 
 mention of a new edition of a poet called " Shakees 
 Pear" (1710), and of a book, " fade et grossier," called 
 "A Tale of a Tub" (172 1). 
 
 As for Cominges, he did his best to make up for his 
 deficiency, and as everybody in society spoke French, 
 his troubles on this account were not unendurable. 
 An important exception, was the Lord Chancellor 
 Clarendon, who was, however, to have in after-times 
 more leisure than he expected to improve on the spot 
 his knowledge of the language of his neighbours. 
 When Cominges had to deal with him, and, which 
 happened more rarely, with lord mayors and aldermen, 
 he had to call in an interpreter. Reporting an im- 
 portant interview he had with the Chancellor to treat 
 of the Spanish and Portuguese war, Cominges writes : 
 '' He came to receive me at the door of his hall, and 
 gave me audience in his closet, where the Sieur Bennet 
 
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, 55 
 
 remained to act as an interpreter. In order that we 
 might the better understand each other, I divided my 
 speech into eight or ten points, to which the Chancellor 
 answered ; and then, through the Sieur Bennet, I re- 
 ceived the answers." ^ From this it appears that Claren- 
 don was able to understand but not to speak French. 
 
 With the help of his interpreters and of the 
 French-speaking members of the aristocracy, Cominges 
 gathered information on English politics and insti- 
 tutions as best he could, to the satisfaction of his 
 Government. " Without flattery," Lionne answers, on 
 the receipt of a lengthy dispatch on the variety of 
 religions in England, " nothing could be clearer, better 
 put in writing, wiser and more solid ; and given this, 
 you can easily console yourself for not being able to 
 articulate one word of English." 
 
 On one occasion, at least, the Ambassador's anxieties, 
 one may suppose, ought to have been great. For the 
 King himself, strange as it may seem, wrote to have a 
 full report, not on politics, religion, or trade, but, of all 
 things, on literature. This, undoubtedly, sounds very 
 much to his honour ; by this curious move the Great 
 Monarch was on the verge, long before Voltairian 
 times, of discovering Shakespeare. I have pointed out 
 elsewhere that copies of the works of the master-dra- 
 matist were then in existence in some French libraries ; 
 Surintendant Fouquet had one, which was sold with 
 the rest of his books after his trial ; another copy 
 found its way into quite an unlooked-for place — in the 
 very library of the patron of Racine and Boileau, in the 
 collection of the Sun-King himself. There it lay, very 
 ^ To the King. March 26, 1663. 
 
56 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 little read, one may be sure, looking so queer, so 
 unexpected, so uncouth that the Royal librarian when 
 making his catalogue thought it proper to add to the 
 name and title a few observations, for the King, 
 courtiers, and savants to know what the thing was they 
 handled ; and the thing was accordingly thus described 
 by Nicolas Clement, hibliothecaire royal, in one of his 
 slips, the original of which is still preserved in the 
 public library in Paris, where I found it some years 
 ago: — 
 
 ** M^ill. Shakspeare, poeta anglicus, . . . This poet 
 has a somewhat fine imagination ; his thoughts are 
 natural, his words ingeniously chosen, but these happy 
 qualities are obscured by the dirt he introduces in his 
 plays." I 
 
 Such is the earliest sentence passed upon Shakespeare 
 by a compatriot of Moliere : a somewhat fine imagina- 
 tion was his best point. A large number of years was to 
 elapse before Victor Hugo would discover in him one 
 of the few " hommes oceans " of humanity. 
 
 The King's instructions which were obviously 
 prompted by something beyond mere literary curiosity, 
 were as follows : '* I will end my dispatch by an 
 order which I should like you to fulfil with the greatest 
 care. I want you to inquire, without any one sus- 
 pecting that I may have written to you about it, and as 
 if you were impelled by your own curiosity, what are 
 within the three kingdoms, the persons notorious and 
 
 I "Will Shakspeare poeta anglicus. . . . Cc poete arimagination 
 assez belle, il pense naturellement, il s'exprime avec finesse ; mais 
 ces belles qualites sont obscurcies par les ordures qu'il mele a ses 
 comedies." (About 1680.) 
 
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 57 
 
 excellent above all others in all sorts of knowledge. 
 You will forward to me an accurate list of them, in- 
 dicating of what blood they are, whether rich or poor, 
 what line of study they follow, what genius they are 
 endowed with. My intention is to be informed of all 
 that is best and exquisite in all countries, and in all 
 branches of knowledge, and to make the best of such 
 information for my service and my glory. But this 
 quest must be carried on with the greatest care and 
 accuracy, without the persons I speak of, nor any other, 
 being able to suspect my intentions or your doings." ^ 
 
 What was Cominges's answer to the royal question } 
 Just what might be expected from such a perfect 
 courtier, well read in his classics, and a sincere admirer 
 of his own country's literature : " The order I receive 
 from your Majesty to gather carefully information con- 
 cerning the more illustrious men of the three kingdoms 
 of which Great Britain is made " — this sentence is 
 ciphered in the original — '' is a mark of the grandeur 
 and loftiness of your soul. Nothing could seem to me 
 more glorious, and your Majesty will perhaps allow me 
 to congratulate him for a thought so worthy of a great 
 monarch, and one which will not render him less 
 illustrious in future centuries than the storming of a 
 town or the winning of a battle. Moved by my own 
 curiosity, and being constantly bent upon the furthering 
 of your Majesty's service and glory, I had already 
 sketched out a plan to enlighten myself on the subject, 
 but I was not well pleased with it. It seems that arts 
 and sciences do entirely leave one country sometimes to 
 
 ^ March 25, 1663 ; the draft as usual in the hand of Lionne ; 
 the same was sent to d'Estrades in Holland. 
 
58 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 go and adorn another in its turn. They appear at 
 present to, have chosen France as their abode ; and if 
 some traces of them are to be discovered here, it is only 
 in the memory of Bacon, Morus and Buchanan, and in 
 later times of a man called Miltonius (un nomme Mil- 
 tonius) who has rendered himself more infamous by his 
 noxious writings than the very tormentors and assassins 
 of their King. I will not fail, however, to collect infor- 
 mation with great care, and I will do it the more 
 willingly, as nothing in the world seems to me more 
 worthy of your Majesty." ^ 
 
 What further information Cominges gathered we 
 know not- Perhaps he found his difficulties increase 
 the more he sought to improve his knowledge, and had 
 to encounter insuperable obstacles when he tried to 
 ascertain what was the literary worth of " le nomme 
 Miltonius," in his capacity as Lycidas or Penseroso 
 Milton. Well might the Sun-King pity his neighbours 
 whose literature consisted in the works of four Latin 
 authors, one of them an infamous man. 
 
 Cominges's dispatch is the more remarkable, as he 
 was conformably to his own assertion, a great friend of 
 books, literature, and authors. But the classic ideal 
 was constantly before his mind ; in his official letters 
 he brings forward the example of the Romans to corro- 
 borate his own recommendations ; he quotes Plato,^ 
 Aristotle, Erasmus, and Bacon ; he beguiles the long, 
 empty hours of the days he has to spend in London by 
 reading the best authors of antiquity. For he finds 
 
 ^ April 2, 1663. 
 
 2 " Nous ne viv^ons pas sous la rcpublique de Platon ; I'egalite a 
 ses bornes et son ctendue." — To Lionne, September 25, 1664. 
 
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 59 
 
 himself, he declares, to Lionne, in a country " where 
 Idleness reigns seated on his throne. Had I not a taste 
 for study I should find myself a man to be pitied above 
 all others ; but 1 hold converse with the best men (les 
 plus honnetes gens) of antiquity ; they are so kind as to 
 let me come to them and leave them without a bow or 
 excuse. My communications with them are free of 
 expense, and that is a comfort. Without their being 
 the poorer for it, I enrich myself with their spoils, 
 thanks to which I will be enabled to appear some day 
 before you very decently equipped." ^ He would have 
 bitterly suffered in his ambassadorial pride if he could 
 have imagined why so much " oisivete " was his lot ; 
 but more of this hereafter. 
 
 Cominges was curious not only about books, but also 
 about men. Besides larger dinner parties with Charles 
 and his royal brother, and his little " Momous," and 
 his beautiful Castlemaine, he had little dinners for the 
 more interesting among the philosophers and savants 
 of his acquaintance ; people with whom it was possible 
 to discuss politics in the abstract and to quote the 
 example of the Romans. We see thus at his table no 
 less illustrious guests than Huygens van Zuylichem, 
 well known already by his invention of the pendulum- 
 clock,2 and Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury. The 
 
 ^ December 3, 1663. 
 
 ^ Evelyn mentions his dining with Huygens : "I dined with 
 that great mathematician and virtuoso, Monsieur Zuylichem^ 
 inventor of the pendule clock " (April i, 1661). In 1666 
 Huygens settled in Paris, where he remained for fifteen years and 
 became a member of the Academy of Sciences. He died in 1695 ; 
 his complete works are in course of publication : "CEuvres com- 
 pletes de Christian Huygens," publices par la Socicte Hollandaise 
 des Sciences ; La Hayc, 4to (fourth vol. in the press). 
 
6o A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 former was staying in England entrusted with a mission 
 to forward the interests of a young prince destined to play 
 no small part in the history of the country, namely, the 
 Prince of Orange, then a boy, not yet married to 
 James's daughter. The latter Cominges patronises 
 very much, seeing in him a useful " bonhomme," worthy 
 to be enrolled among Louis the Fourteenth's servants 
 as a defender of royal authority, and of the divine 
 rights of kings. He appeals to Lionne to pension him 
 on this account, and to let the pension be delivered 
 through his own hands. 
 
 Cominges on this occasion sends home the following 
 characteristic account of the " bonhomme," then in his 
 seventy-fifth year : " In two days Messieurs de Zuy- 
 lichem, d'Hobbes, and de Sorbieres are going to dine 
 at my house ; we will not fail to speak of you after we 
 have eulogized our master. The 'bonhomme,' Mr. 
 Hobbes, is in love with his Majesty's person ; we 
 never meet without his asking me a thousand questions 
 about him. He always concludes with exclamations 
 and with appropriate wishes for the King. As his 
 Majesty has often shown an intention to do good to 
 this sort of people, I will venture to say that he will 
 never have a better occasion than this. Mr. Hobbes 
 may truly be called Assertor Regum^ as his works 
 show. As for our own sovereign, he has made him 
 his hero. If all this could obtain for him some gift, I 
 beg that I might be the means. I will know how to 
 make the most of it ; and I believe that never will any 
 favour have been better placed." ^ 
 
 In his answer Lionne assures Cominges of the 
 ^ July 23, 1663. 
 
^Try 
 
 >r. -rw^ 
 
 vjhW 
 
 tv 
 
 
HUYGENS 
 From the engraving by Edelink 
 
■ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 6i 
 
 intention of the King to give something to Hobbes, 
 but it remains doubtful whether the inclination of 
 Louis to benefit *' ces sortes de gens " was extended 
 in fact to the author of " Leviathan." 
 
 " I wish," he says, " I had been able to be your 
 fourth guest at the dinner you were to give to 
 Messieurs de Zuyhchem, Hobbes, and Sorbieres. The 
 King, I see, is greatly Inclined to pension the second ; 
 but pray, do not bind his Majesty to anything before I 
 am able to write to you more precisely about it. If it 
 is resolved that something be given him, you may be 
 sure it will be through your hands. His Majesty has 
 already stated that such was his intention." i 
 
 Whatever may have been the case of Hobbes, 
 certain it is that the two other guests became pen- 
 sioners of Louis. In the curious lists which have 
 been preserved of his liberalities, which offer to the 
 modern eye such a strange medley of names, we find 
 such entries as these : — 
 
 " To the Sieur Pierre Corneille, the 
 
 greatest dramatic poet in the world 2,000 llvres. 
 
 " To the Sieur Sorbieres, well in- 
 structed In human letters 1,000 livres. 
 
 " To the Sieur Racine, a French poet 300 livres. 
 
 *' To the Sieur Chapelain, the greatest 
 French poet that has ever been, 
 with the most solid judgment ... 3,000 livres." ^ 
 
 Further are found the names of Helnsius, Vossius, 
 ' August I, 1663. 
 
 2 ''CEuvres dc Louis XIV.," Paris, 1806, 6 vols. 8vo, vol. i, 
 pp. 223, et seq. 
 
62 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 Cominges's guest Huygens, " Beklerus," &c. Sor- 
 bieres, who thus appears with greater honour on 
 the list than the " French poet " Racine, but 
 with less than " the greatest French poet that 
 has ever been," Chapelain, availed himself of the 
 opportunities offered by his stay in England to 
 write a book fliU of praise of, but with some unkind 
 remarks on, English society. Clarendon he declared 
 to be a good jurist, but nothing more. The appear- 
 ance of the book in 1664 ^ created quite a stir ; Louis 
 was not long in making up his mind ; judging that 
 Sorbieres had been indiscreet, he suppressed at once 
 both the author and his work : the first being shut 
 up in the Bastille, and afterwards exiled to Lower 
 Brittany ; the second being ordered to be destroyed, 
 and a proclamation read throughout Paris, in which 
 the King redeemed the character of his " well-beloved 
 and deeply-esteemed " Clarendon. 2 
 
 Cominges, whom Sorbieres had given trouble to, by 
 his inconsiderate publication, took very lightly the 
 chastisement inflicted upon him, and wrote to Lionne : 
 
 ^ *' Relation d'un voyage en Angleterre, ou sont touchees plu- 
 sieurs choses qui regardent I'etat des sciences et de la religion et 
 autres maticres curieuses." Paris, 1664, 8vo ; translated into 
 English, 1709. 
 
 2 Considering that the author " se donne la licence d'avancer 
 centre la verite diverses choses au desavantage de la nation 
 anglaise, a I'audace de porter calomnieusement son jugement sur 
 les qualities personnelles et sur la conduite d'un des principaux 
 Ministres du Roi de la Grande Bretagne (lequel Ministre Sa 
 Majestc aime, estime et considere beaucoup) . . ." — See 
 Ravaisson, "Archives de la Bastille,'' Paris, 1868, Svo., vol. iii. 
 p. 425. 
 
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 63 
 
 '* The exile of the Sieur Sorbieres to Lower Brittany 
 has been very well conceived, for we have no true and 
 trustworthy relation concerning that country. He will 
 be enabled to prepare one, and even to learn the 
 language of the place, which though of barbarous 
 appearance is not, it is said, without some beauties of 
 its own." He was not, however, allowed to stay there 
 long enough for this kind wish to be fulfilled, for the 
 punishment was soon considered, even in England, to 
 have been carried far enough, and good-natured Charles 
 asked that the culprit might be pardoned. This was 
 granted, but not before Cominges had had to interfere 
 in his turn, and in a different direction : for replies 
 were being prepared by '' Messieurs de Tacademie," 
 that is, of the English Academy or Royal Society, 
 then recently created : " Having heard that some 
 members of the English Academy, as indiscreet as the 
 Sieur de Sorbieres, were sharpening their pens to answer 
 him, I spoke to the King of Great Britain, who has 
 undertaken to stop them and to have the materials 
 they had already prepared brought to him, under threat 
 of punishment. Were this skirmish allowed, the thing 
 would never end ; it would only enrage the more two 
 nations between whom there is no love lost, and which 
 want more to be softened by fair play than soured by 
 reproaches and abuse.'* ^ Sorbieres was allowed to 
 come back, but having not become much the wiser 
 for his stay among the long-haired Celts of Armorica, 
 
 ^ To the King. July 21, 1664. An answer was, however, 
 published the next year by Thomas Sprat (Bishop of Rochester) : 
 "Observations on Mr. Sorbier's voyage — Sed poterat tutior esse 
 domi." London, 1665. 
 
64 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 he lived to play, it is said, the most absurd tricks upon 
 his two famous correspondents Hobbes and Gassendi. 
 Sceptic as they were in many things, both, strangely 
 enough, chose to place their faith in Sorbieres, who 
 took good care to teach them that they ought to have 
 gone at least one step further in their doubts. ^ 
 
 Among the men with a name in literature whom 
 Cominges used to meet in London were, besides the three 
 above named, Buckingham, Sir William Temple, *^ a 
 man the more dangerous as he does not lack wit nor 
 influence," 2 Gramont, whose mad pranks the Ambassa- 
 dor notices, as we shall see, usually with some indul- 
 gence, but from time to time with sharpness and severity. 
 
 Saint Evremont also is named here and there in 
 Cominges's letters, and the Ambassador does all he can 
 to show that the old man deserves a better fate and 
 that the order for his exile ought to be repealed. On 
 the occasion of his official ** entree," Cominges writes 
 to the King : " The Frenchmen present in this Court 
 have done their duty, and the Chevalier de Gramont 
 appeared with the same magnificence as is his wont on 
 such occasions. Poor St. Evremont shone less, and 
 wore a more afflicted look ; he would be in absolute 
 despair had he not some hope that your Majesty will 
 at length pardon a fault which was much more the 
 doing of his wit than of his heart." 3 
 
 This appeal to pity was reiterated the next year by 
 the Marquis de Ruvigny, who had been sent to Eng- 
 land on a temporary mission : "St. Evremont is greatly 
 
 ^ He gave, it is said, to each as being his own the letters of the other 
 and rose accordingly (for a time) in their esteem (Ravaisson, ibid.). 
 Having been disabled by dropsy, he poisoned himself in 1670. 
 2 To Lionne. June 25, 1663. 3 April 19, 1663. 
 
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 65 
 
 broken for want of health and money ; the King of 
 England gave him yesterday a pension of three hundred 
 jacobuses. His state is pitiable." ^ 
 
 But this too was of no avail, and poor St. Evremont, 
 one of the many admirers of Madame de Cominges and 
 of the Duchess Mazarin, was doomed not to see his 
 country again, but to die in England, a very old man, 
 in 1703. 
 
 ^ To Lionne. June 22, 1665. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 
 
 I. Cominges's Entree. 
 
 HAVING had to replace d'Estrades, it is no wonder 
 that Cominges paid very great attention to 
 etiquette, and that his letters are full of particu- 
 lars as to ceremonial and precedence. The stiffness of 
 the rules, and the importance of the smallest items, 
 seem at the present day very strange, people being no 
 longer accustomed to such a tone of deep seriousness in 
 matters of this sort, except in dispatches referring to 
 imperial courts in Asia. 
 
 When he first came to England, Cominges had to 
 face the unpleasant necessity of making his solemn 
 entree into London. Personally he was for avoiding 
 the thing altogether, for a cause very often alluded to 
 in his dispatches, namely, the expense. He felt the 
 more inclined to this as a splendid entree had just been 
 made by Muscovite envoys, and the Ambassador ex- 
 perienced great anxiety how, with an indifferently well- 
 fiirnished purse, he could compete with these wondrous 
 northern people. A few days after his arrival in Eng- 
 land he informs Lionne of the coming of'* the Ambas- 
 
 66 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 67 
 
 sador of the Grand Duke of Muscovy, whom they call 
 here Emperor,'* and thus describes the entree : " You 
 will know, sir, that an entree on an unparalleled scale 
 was arranged for him ; all the merchants were under 
 arms ; the aldermen, who are what we call echevins, 
 went to pay him a visit and congratulate him upon his 
 coming ; the King defrays all his expenses and provides 
 him with lodgings. After a month's stay he had to- 
 day his audience, when fifteen or sixteen foot soldiers 
 were under arms. . . . His coach was admitted into 
 Whitehall, contrary to custom. He did not, it is true, 
 cover himself when talking to the King of Great 
 Britain ; but as for me, and whatever the English may 
 say, I do believe that it is not so much out of respect 
 for his Majesty as out of pride ; for they hope by this 
 means to prevent the English Ambassador from cover- 
 ing himself when addressing the Muscovite Prince. 
 All I think we can reasonably pretend to is admittance 
 for our coach into Whitehall ; for the additional pomp 
 displayed in the entree into town had no cause but the 
 interests of the London merchants who trade with Mus- 
 covy, and in consideration of which they treated him to 
 such 2i fanfare P ^ 
 
 A very fine sight it was, doubtless, so many " wealthy 
 citizens in their black velvet coats and gold chains," 
 and the Ambassador's suite " in their habits and fur 
 caps, very handsome, comely men, and most of them 
 with hawks upon their fists to present to the King." 
 A very fine sight ! '' But, Lord ! to see the absurd 
 nature of Englishmen, that cannot forbear laughing 
 
 ^ To Lionnc. December 29, 1662. 
 
68 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 and jeering at everything that looks strange." These 
 last remarks are not Cominges's but Pepys's. 
 
 Not at all jealous of the *' fanfare," with the 
 laughing and jeering accompaniments, Cominges goes 
 on to suggest that it would be advisable for him to 
 abstain ahogether, and not to make any entree at all. 
 It would save him a large sum of money, and every- 
 body would be pleased. But Louis would not assent, 
 and he wrote in answer a dispatch of enormous length, 
 in which all the particulars of the Muscovite entree 
 and of the attitude Cominges ought to observe are 
 examined with a scrupulous eye. Still, so grave is 
 the matter, that the King will not adopt as yet 
 definite resolutions, and all this long memoir contains 
 only provisional instructions ; nay, merely counsels 
 and suggestions. First, there is a remarkable " chapitre 
 des chapeaux " : 
 
 '' All that follows must be taken by you as nothing 
 more than a piece of advice ; it has been shaped 
 according to the opinions it has been possible to form 
 at a distance ; do not consider it as orders you are 
 bound to follow. 
 
 *^ Firstly, I deem that you ought, before everything, 
 confidentially to inquire from Chevalier Bennet, or 
 even from the King, the true reason why the Moscow 
 Ambassadors did not put on their hats. I see that, 
 according to you, the cause is that the Czar, their 
 master, does not allow the ambassadors of other 
 princes to cover themselves before him, and that 
 therefore they did not insist, so as to preserve that 
 advantage to him. But all this seems to be reduced 
 to nought by what the Danish Ambassador here reports, 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS, 69 
 
 for he has said to the Sieur de Lionne . . ." (and so 
 on, and on. . . .). 
 
 Another great question is to know whether Comin- 
 ges ought to " donner la main " to them — that is, 
 not to shake them by the hand, but to allow them to 
 walk and stand on his right side when they come to see 
 him, I a question the more delicate as in not covering 
 themselves they have " derogated," and placed them- 
 selves, of their own accord, in an inferior situation. 
 Ought they to be raised from this lower degree? 
 Cominges is ordered to think the matter over, and 
 ponder over it, and choose and decide only when he 
 has first resolved the hat problem. " And in case 
 you resolve to concede to them the right-hand side in 
 your house, then one more question remains — that is, 
 to know whether you ought to allow this privilege to 
 the three " — for there were three Muscovite envoys — 
 *' upon which I will tell you that, provided that there 
 be no marked inequality between the three, and that 
 they be endowed with the same capacity and power, 
 you must not hesitate to do so." A thorny and 
 difficult point ; " donner, prendre, ceder la main " 
 was of the highest importance. When French troops 
 were sent to help the Dutch in 1666, Louis was 
 careful to state that they would not ''' ceder la main," 
 but have the honour to go under fire, standing on the 
 right side of the army. 
 
 ^ " Donner la main est aussi fairc honneur a quclqu'un en le 
 mettant a sa droite, en lui cedant le pas, le haut du pave et toutes 
 Ics places honorables. — Honorabiliorem locum cederc — ^Cet Ambas- 
 sadeur ne donnait chez lui la main a personne " (" Dictionnaire de 
 Trcvoux"). 
 
70 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 As for Comlnges's own entree, to avoid it entirely 
 is an absolute impossibility, for the custom would 
 spread, and Louis would then be deprived of the 
 means '' to show the people that the Spanish Ambassa- 
 dor does no longer compete with the French for 
 precedence." i The King, as we perceive, was bent 
 upon preventing Mr. Pepys and all the Pepyses 
 innumerable in London and elsewhere, from recording 
 the Watteville incident as '' a disgrace for ever " to 
 the French name. 
 
 But here a new difficulty arose. As a consequence 
 of the d'Estrades affair, Charles had rendered a decree 
 forbidding ambassadors henceforth to send their coaches 
 to follow the carriage of any new-comer making his 
 entree. A fresh negotiation for the repeal of this 
 decree had to be begun, and again letters of prodigious 
 length were exchanged on this point. Cominges, on 
 his part, taught, as it seems by the example of his 
 predecessor, displayed such zeal that Louis himself 
 found it went too far, and wrote to pacify him some- 
 what : " I have received your ample dispatch of the 
 19th. ... I have seen with what zeal and firmness 
 you have supported a demand in which you consider 
 my glory to be interested. ... I did not expect less 
 from your affection, and I feel very grateful for it. , . . 
 But as in matters so weighty, I do not mean to act 
 with any haste, I shall wait, before I take a resolu- 
 tion, the coming of the special envoy of the King of 
 England whom you mention. . . . Mind, in the 
 meantime, to soften as much as you can what sourness 
 may now exist. ... If there is any unpleasant answer 
 
 ^ The King to Cominges. January 21, 1663. 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. y 
 
 to give, it is better I give it myself, for it is necessary 
 you be always considered in England as doing your 
 best, so that your person and function remain agree- 
 able to them. For the same reason, if the answer be 
 pleasant, I shall let you give it." ^ 
 
 The special envoy comes — Trevor by name.^ Louis 
 finds him at first *' d'une grande secheresse." Trevor 
 asserts that the repeal of the decree is an impossibility ; 
 to risk again such a fray as Watteville and d'Estrades 
 caused would imperil the very crown of Charles. All 
 he can ofl^er is to secure to the French Ambassador 
 precedence indoors^ and even this he refuses to state 
 in writing. But in writing Louis the Fourteenth would 
 have it — and got it at last. His reasons were " that we are 
 all mortal men. Maybe such an occurrence as happened 
 will not recur again for sixty years, and I therefore 
 would greatly like to leave to the Dauphin a proof of 
 the justice and goodwill of the King of Great Britain, 
 which he will be able to exhibit when time and men 
 have altered. There will be thus, even then, no 
 difficulty." 3 At length the parties agreed to a note, 
 which had to be several times revised and corrected 
 (a draft with corrections in the handwriting of Lionne 
 still exists). 4 It was signed and handed to Louis on 
 the 29th of March. " The King, my master," Trevor 
 says in it, " has ordered me to give to your Majesty 
 his pledge, that in case it be found impossible for his 
 own safety to repeal the *' resolution ' he took in the 
 
 ^ February 25, 1663. 
 
 2 Later Sir John Trevor, and a Secretary of State. 
 
 3 March 14., 1663. 
 
 4 French Foreign Office, " Angleterre," vol. Ixxxi. No. 80. 
 
72 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 year 1661, he will, at least on all the occasions when a 
 concourse of people is not to be feared, such as balls, 
 banquets, marriages, and other ceremonies taking place 
 at Whitehall, and in the royal houses, or in the royal 
 presence, secure for the French Ambassador, in all good 
 faith and sincerity, the precedence which Spain has 
 ceded to him." — Signed : " Jean Trevor." 
 
 Cominges is therefore ordered to make his entree 
 without the accompaniment of the diplomatic coaches, 
 and he will observe that Trevor was not allowed to call 
 in his note the decree of 1661 a decree, but only a 
 resolution, " the other word being hateful (odieux) 
 when the question is of Ambassadors, concerning the 
 conduct of whom no one can decree anything except 
 their own sovereigns." ^ 
 
 The entree took place, and was adorned with all the 
 pomp of a lord mayor's show; there was no bloodshed, 
 and Cominges was able to send home a glowing account 
 of the ceremony, which we unfortunately cannot 
 check with Pepys's description, Mr. Pepys being on 
 that day busy elsewhere. He was at Hyde Park, and 
 *' at the Park was the King, and in another coach my 
 Lady Castlemaine, they greeting one another at every 
 turn." 2 
 
 While this smiling went on, Cominges at the other 
 end of the town was performing his sham landing at 
 Greenwich, and was decorously entertained by the 
 people and officials. " You will know that all things 
 being prepared and arranged on both sides, on the 14th 
 of this month, the Under- Master of the Ceremonies 
 
 ^ The King to Cominges. April i, 1663. 
 2 April 4, 1663 (O.S.) 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS, 73 
 
 called at my house, there to take and carry me with 
 three barges of the King to * Grennitche/ this being 
 the place where ambassadors are received to be escorted 
 to London. No sooner was I there than the Master of 
 the Ceremonies came with five or six officers of the 
 household, and, having complimented me upon my 
 arrival, informed me that ' M. le Comte d'Evincheres' 
 [Earl of Devonshire] would soon be there to receive 
 and lead me on behalf of his master. One hour later 
 he came with a large escort, with six gentlemen of the 
 bedchamber and four barges of the King, one of which, 
 a magnificently decorated one, he asked me to enter, 
 after having explained by whose orders he had come to 
 receive me. 
 
 "As soon as we had embarked, the ships in the 
 harbour fired. During the journey the talk was upon 
 the greatness of [our] King and his fine qualities. On 
 my part I was not found dumb on those of the King 
 of England. We reached the Tower, where the royal 
 flag had been unfurled, which is the highest compliment 
 that can be paid to an Ambassador. Some of the 
 Royal guards were drawn along the water for my 
 landing to be more easy, and for the keeping out of 
 the way the people who had congregated in prodigious 
 numbers. 
 
 " I was made to enter the King's coach, which is a 
 magnificent one. I sat in it with the ' Comte d'Evin- 
 cheres,' my son, and the Master of Ceremonies. We 
 stopped some time to allow the Under Master to set in 
 motion more than fifty coaches, drawn by six horses, 
 and a variety of others. As soon as we began to pro- 
 ceed, a salute of one hundred and four guns was fired 
 
74 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 from the Tower, viz., seventy for the Ambassador, 
 twenty for the King, and the rest for the Governor. 
 I saw the order of repartition signed by the Secretary 
 of State. The drive extended to about a league, and 
 took place among such a concourse of people, with so 
 many coaches at the corners of the streets, that we 
 wanted nearly three hours to cover the distance. 
 
 " At length, in the midst of this multitude, I reached 
 my house, where I thanked my conductor ; I accom- 
 panied him to his coach, and I paid compliments to all 
 those who had come with him by order of the King. 
 I was then visited on his behalf by the son of the High 
 Chamberlain, and, the day after, on behalf of the Queens 
 and the Duke and Duchess of York. The day after, 
 which was Sunday, I was visited by various persons of 
 quality, ' M. le due de Buquinham ' being the first to 
 call. My audience was fixed for the Tuesday at 
 three. 
 
 " ' M. le Comte de Belhfort ' [Bedford] came to take 
 me by order of the King, with as many if not more 
 coaches than on the day of my entree. I was led to 
 Whitehall, the Guards being drawn in a line, with the 
 drums beating, and the cavalry sounding their trumpets. 
 I went on, still seated in the King's coach, by which 
 doing I received the same honour as was allowed to the 
 Muscovites ; my own coaches remained outside, and I 
 would not ask for more, as it would have been contrary 
 to custom. The thing, besides, is considered as of 
 little import in this Court." 
 
 Cominges then sees the King and Queen ; and a 
 considerable quantity of bows and compliments are ex- 
 changed. " On the following day I had an audience of 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 75 
 
 the Queen-mother, who, to oblige the King,i wished that 
 my coaches might be allowed into her yard ; and I must 
 confess that I was received by all the officers with so 
 much honour and such a show of satisfaction that 
 nothing could be added to it. ... I hope to see the 
 Chancellor to-morrow ; and then two or three days 
 will be spent in receiving the visits of the foreign 
 ministers accredited here ; and then I will return their 
 visits.' - And then near two weeks having been taken 
 up by the ceremonies consequent upon the sham 
 landing at Greenwich — three months after the real 
 landing had taken place at Dover — the course of 
 ordinary life will at length be resumed. 
 
 Cominges's account of the entree was found very 
 satisfactory, and he received the congratulations of his 
 master, who, however, not without a tinge of naivete^ 
 expressed his regret " that the people who flocked 
 there in such large numbers were drawn more by curiosity 
 than by love." 3 
 
 The importance of such matters being very great, 
 no envoy reached England without his being carefully 
 described to Louis ; his dress and equipage, his coach, 
 attendants, servants, the manner of his landing being of 
 course included in the picture. We sometimes hear of 
 a Spanish or a Danish coach being clumsily built or 
 insufficiently gilt, or of a Tuscan envoy who " looks 
 quite abashed, being entirely unused to the part he has to 
 play. . . . Never was seen on the back of a merchant, 
 of the Rue aux Fers, on his marriage day, a coat of such 
 
 ^ The King of course means Louis. 
 
 2 To Lionnc. April 19, 1663. 
 
 3 The King to Cominges. April 29, 1663. 
 
76 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 glowing and puffing-out stuff; with his ill-drawn 
 woollen hose, a large flat collar, and huge white 
 feathers." ^ 
 
 II. At my Lord Mayor's. 
 
 When any breach of etiquette had been committed, 
 it is needless to say, after what had happened to 
 d'Estrades, that Cominges was not slow to resent it. 
 On the [9th of November] 1663, M^- P^pys happened 
 to dine with the Lord Mayor, for it was his luck to be 
 usually present when anything memorable was going to 
 take place. " They had," he says, " ten good dishes to 
 a messe, with plenty of wine of all sorts ; " but " it was 
 very unpleasing that we had no napkins, nor change of 
 trenchers, and drank out of earthen pitchers and 
 wooden dishes. It happened that after the lords had 
 half dined, came the French Ambassador up to the 
 lords' table, where he was to have sat ; he would not 
 sit down nor dine with the Lord Mayor, who was not 
 yet come, nor have a table to himself, which was 
 offered ; but in a discontent went away again. After I 
 had dined ... I went up to the ladys' room, and 
 there stayed gazing upon them." While Mr. Pepys 
 was enjoying this last amusement, Cominges was writing 
 to Louis Quatorze and describing how, though he had 
 arrived at the appointed hour, people had sat at table 
 before his coming ; and how, having been instructed 
 on a former occasion not to show too much of his 
 temper, he had done all he could to prevent or at least 
 extenuate this " incivilite grossiere et barbare." 
 ^ To Lionne. October 6, 1663. 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 77 
 
 At first, things had gone on very well : " The Master 
 of the Ceremonies had taken care to come and fetch me 
 at eight o'clock in order that I might see the beginning 
 of the show that takes place on the water. He then 
 led me to the main street, where a room had been 
 prepared for me to see conveniently the cavalcade. 
 No sooner had it gone by than 1 stepped into a coach, 
 and, availing myself of the by-streets, I got the start of 
 the others. I arrived half an hour before the mayor 
 and was received at the Guildhall with as much courtesy 
 as possible ; the gate was opened for my coaches ; the 
 pike and flag were lowered to me by the officers present 
 when I alighted. I was there and then received by 
 other burgesses, who placed me under the conduct of 
 others, and so on, till 1 reached the banquetting place, 
 where I found ' M. le Chancelier ' and the members of 
 the Council already seated at table. 
 
 " I was surprised at this piece of gross incivility. 
 To avoid, however, giving importance to it, I took upon 
 myself to arrange so as to either allow these gentlemen 
 to retrieve their fault if they had done it out of igno- 
 rance or oversight, or to escape the effect of their 
 ill-will through the boldness and openness of my 
 attitude. I therefore walked straight to them with the 
 intent of complimenting them upon their good appetite ; 
 but they stood so cold and dumbfounded that I thought 
 fit to retire — the Chancellor and all the persons present 
 having not even risen to receive me, except Benner, who 
 spoke some words to which I answered with scorn." ^ 
 
 The matter was very grave indeed ; there could 
 scarcely be any doubt as to that. The municipal 
 ^ To the King. November 9, 1663. 
 
78 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 officers hastened to present the excuses of the Mayor ; 
 then Lord St. Albans came to the Embassy ; then the 
 Abbe de Montagu ; then the Lord Mayor himself 
 drove in state to explain matters. " On the next day, 
 at eleven, I was informed that the Mayor had started 
 to pay me a visit. He arrived shortly after, followed 
 by ten or twelve coaches and a rather large number 
 of people, who accompanied the procession out of 
 curiosity. He walked into my house with his insignia, 
 that is, the sword [&c., &c.]. He stopped a moment 
 in the lower hall, expecting, perhaps, I would go and 
 receive him there ; but one of my secretaries went to 
 tell him that there was a fire upstairs, and that I was 
 not ready dressed yet, having spent the morning in 
 writing my dispatches. He then walked up, and I at 
 once went to him to conduct him to my audience 
 chamber. I would not hear him before he was seated. 
 He at first explained that he was sorry he could not 
 express himself in French, but that he had an interpreter 
 with him." 
 
 My lord then begs to be excused for what had taken 
 place, and asks Cominges to come again and dine with 
 him. The Ambassador had some trouble in under- 
 standing this, because the interpreter " did not fulfil 
 his duty very well " ; he requested the town provost, 
 whose French was better, to translate his own harangue, 
 which was to the effect that he would, with the 
 assent of his master, entirely forget the indignity he 
 had suffered, and would willingly dine with his lordship, 
 provided the same company were present ; which being 
 agreed to, the Mayor rose to go. " I accompanied him 
 to his coach, making him always to go first, but 1 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 79 
 
 myself keeping on the right hand. All went off 
 satisfactorily on both sides." ^ 
 
 To the great dismay of Cominges, the King at first 
 answered nothing ; two " ordinaires " came and went, and 
 no instructions reached him. He thought he had not 
 done enough, and supposed he might have incurred no 
 measured blame for having not exacted more, perhaps 
 for not having left the country ; he felt the pangs of 
 the deepest anxiety, and wrote expostulatory letters to 
 Lionne. At length a Royal dispatch of immense mag- 
 nitude, such as questions of this sort would elicit in 
 those times, reached him and quieted his fears. It 
 showed him one important thing, viz., that his master 
 was too much of a statesman to stand ever and always 
 by etiquette, whatever were the case and circumstances. 
 The drift of the Royal message was to pacify Cominges 
 himself, to show that the intention to offer him an 
 insult was perhaps, after all, an imaginary grievance, 
 and to draw in such matters a distinction which has not 
 lost its wisdom : when there is no intention to wound, 
 and especially when the sovereign of the country has 
 had no part in the affair, it may very easily be 
 passed over. " I have more than once stated," says 
 Louis, " in the matter of the difficulties I have with 
 the Court of Rome {i.e., the attack of the Papal guard 
 upon Crequi, the French Ambassador), that it is not in 
 the power of kings and potentates to prevent un- 
 pleasantnesses arising out of fortuitous circumstances 
 which all human foresight is inadequate to prevent." 
 The d'Estrades affair was grave only on account of the 
 interference of the British King, from which it mani- 
 ^ November 12, 1663. 
 
8o A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 festly appeared that his brother of France had no such 
 rights of precedence as he claimed. The Lord Mayor 
 business is of a different sort, and must not be made too 
 much of I 
 
 Cominges became, therefore, less exacting ; he went 
 the next year to the Guildhall banquet, where this time 
 everybody took their seat at table at the appointed 
 hour, about which there was no mistake, and a great 
 many compliments passed between him and " Messieurs 
 de la Ville," " Messieurs du Conseil," and the Lord 
 Mayor. 
 
 It would be unfair to Cominges not to state that his 
 English colleague made himself scarcely less troublesome 
 in Paris. The Presbyterian Holies, created a peer at 
 the Restoration, " a man," says Burnet, " of great 
 courage, but of as great pride," began to show his 
 temper even before he arrived ; he wanted Louis to 
 call him " my lord " in his passport, and a corre- 
 spondence took place on the subject, the PVench King 
 declaring that he would call the English envoy " the 
 Sieur," that is. Seigneur (or lord), as much as he pleased, 
 but not " my lord," because " my lord, properly speak- 
 ing, means Monseigneur, and it cannot be believed that 
 Holies expects that such a title will be allowed him 
 in an act signed by the King himself." ^ His entree 
 was another source of difficulties, and was not more 
 easily arranged than Cominges's own. When at last 
 established in Paris, he wanted to be addressed as 
 " Your Excellency " by the Secretaries of State, but 
 not to have to return the compliment. De Lionne, who 
 
 ^ The King to Cominges. November i8, 1663, 
 ^ Lionne to Cominges. February 25, 1663. 
 
ETIQ UETTE AND CO URT NE WS. 8 1 
 
 had long given him the desired appellation, ^ ceased, 
 seeing that he was not answered in the same way. 
 The same thing happened with Chancelier Seguier. On 
 the request of Lord Holies it had been agreed they 
 would call each other " Your Excellency," and " M. le 
 Chancelier having begun, the other answered him with 
 a ' You,' at which he was excessively shocked. In the 
 meantime all is stopped, which gives me the deepest 
 sorrow, finding it a great pity that for things of this 
 sort we have come to a standstill." ^ 
 
 While Cominges did not know how to speak English, 
 Holles's French was not of the best sort, and the mis- 
 takes of the grave Presbyterian were a source of amuse- 
 ment at the English Court. He writes once that the 
 French Queen has given birth to a Moorish girl, which 
 creates great wonder. The wonder is altered into 
 laughter when it is ascertained that having heard that 
 Marie Therese had been delivered of a ''fille morte," 
 Holies had misunderstood it for a " fille maure." 3 
 
 He, too, was not without his quarrels in the street 
 for precedence. Going one day to pay a visit to Lady 
 Holland, then in Paris, he meets the coach of the 
 Marquis de Besnac, " who must be some young man, 
 as he is not yet known to his Majesty." The two 
 drivers quarrel ; Holies takes part for his own, " le 
 baton a la main," and Besnac, who did not know whom 
 
 ^ At the request of Abbe de Montagu. Montagu to Lionne. 
 August 24, 1664. 
 
 2 So writes Madame, Duchess of Orleans, to her brother, 
 Charles II., June 22, 1664. " Henriette d'Angleterre," by the 
 Comte de Baillon, Paris, 1886, p. 155. 
 
 3 Cominges to Lionne. December i, 1664. 
 
 6 
 
82 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 he was addressing, uses some disrespectful language ; 
 upon which Louis sends him to the Bastille, and his 
 servants to Fort TEveque.^ They were subsequently 
 released with the assent of Holies. 
 
 Another time, as he was going to the Louvre, and 
 his coach was following Madame's, his horses were 
 suddenly stopped and beaten back by the servants of 
 the Princesse de Carignan. These were very numerous, 
 and armed with big sticks. Holies had but five or six 
 men, *' who, having only in their hand some little 
 rod," were utterly routed ; and then, insult being 
 added to injury, the Carignan lackeys made bold to 
 declare '' that there were twelve coaches in France with 
 a right of precedence over Ambassadors', theirs being 
 one." Excuses have been offered, but more is wanted ; 
 and so on.^ 
 
 III. Cominges at Home. 
 
 " When any person is sent abroad as an ambassador, 
 his first duty is to secure for himself a commodious 
 place of abode, worthy of the grandeur of the master he 
 serves." So read the instructions supplied to d'Estrades 
 when he left for London. This first duty was satisfac- 
 torily fulfilled by Cominges (d'Estrades had been living 
 in Chelsea), who established himself in Exeter House, 
 in the Strand. This fine brick palace, with four square 
 turrets, had been erected, in the Elizabethan style 
 
 1 From Lionne. June 3, 1665. 
 
 2 Holies to Lionne, undated, but of the year 1665, last document 
 in vol. Ixxxiv. uf the " Correspondance d'Angleterre" at the French 
 Foreign Office. 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 83 
 
 of architecture, by Burleigh, as great a builder as 
 statesman, to whom his posterity — and posterity at 
 large — owe Burghley House, Northamptonshire. His 
 palace in the Strand stood behind Somerset House, 
 where the Queen-mother lived, its existence being re- 
 called by the Exeter Street of to-day. It was first called 
 Burleigh House, and it took afterwards, from his son, 
 the name of Exeter House. No better site could be 
 chosen for an Embassy ; it was near Whitehall, and not 
 far from the water, which was then as much used as a 
 means of communication as the Grand Canal at Venice. 
 Boatmen were constituted into an influential corpora- 
 tion. We find them in 1665 able to prevent a bridge 
 being built opposite Whitehall, as being injurious to 
 their interests. " The King declared that he would 
 never allow the bridge to be built so long as he lives." ^ 
 Upon which there was much rejoicing among the boat- 
 men, and much appropriate shouting, we doubt not, of 
 " Long live the King ! " While most of the Embassies 
 have now retreated behind or round Buckingham 
 Palace, they clustered then round Whitehall ; Watte- 
 ville's York House was in that quarter, and stood 
 between Durham House and the Royal palace. 
 
 In this magnificent place of abode, besides the small 
 dinners to his literary friends, Cominges gave larger 
 entertainments, where the King, the Court beauties, the 
 Hamilton s and Gramonts, Members of Parliament, 
 people in fashion used to meet. " My house will be 
 open to-morrow. . . . The King and the Duke of 
 York do me the honour to dine here. Not that I have 
 asked his Majesty, but he would come and be one of a 
 ^ To the King. September i, 1664. 
 
84 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 party which will include the most illustrious libertines 
 of his kingdom. I wish you were here too, were it 
 only for two hours, to give me after the fete your good 
 advice and a hugging, which would please me in pro- 
 portion with the esteem and affection I feel for you." ^ 
 
 By means of such fetes Cominges hopes to dispel the 
 ill feelings which certain false news have created: *' The 
 King is going to sup here to-day with his principal 
 courtiers. The ladies come too, and I will regale them 
 with violins and music and other amusements in use in 
 this country. The strange informations received here 
 from Paris have put me to the necessity of giving this 
 feast, to show it is not true any disdain is felt for them, 
 and to warm them somewhat towards us by honest and 
 allowable means. You will pardon me if I leave you to 
 go and see that everything is made ready." ^ Through 
 his dinners Cominges hoped also to get some intercourse 
 with Members of Parliament, and. to be initiated by 
 them into the mysteries of English politics. " Parlia- 
 ment will soon meet ; the lords begin to congregate, 
 and to come from the provinces. ... I hope that 
 during the Session some members will be induced to 
 accept my invitations, and 1 will turn their acquaintance 
 into account by eliciting from them information as to 
 their country, manners, and laws." 3 
 
 In these praiseworthy efforts Cominges was helped 
 for a while by his wife. The "belle Cominges," whom 
 he had at first left behind, at length crossed the Channel 
 and made her appearance into London society. On the 
 
 '^ To Lionne. February 15, 1663. 
 ^ To Lionne. September 22, 1664. 
 3 To the King. February 19, 1663. 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 85 
 
 1 8th of August, 1664, her husband reports that she is 
 paying her first visits. " The King, the Queens, the 
 Duke and Duchess, have caused her to be visited on 
 their behalf, the day of her arrival ; and since then 
 the King, the Duke, and the best people at Court have 
 done her the honour to come and see her. I assure you 
 she will not shame our nation. I reprimanded her 
 somewhat on the score of expense, in order that she 
 does not continue to overstep due bounds in this. For 
 this time, however, I was not sorry for what she had 
 done, rather very much the reverse. The King will 
 pay for all when he likes." i 
 
 The only pity is that she is not very strong, and 
 Cominges sorrowfully informs his friend the Secretary 
 of State that the beautiful Cesonie, the Philis and Iris 
 of so many poets, suffers from the most unpoetical 
 disease. '^ She nearly died yesterday, * d'une colique 
 la plus violente du monde,' as was apparent from the 
 faintings and contortions it caused. To-day she is 
 better. Having, however, to stay with her in order to 
 see that she is properly nursed, I have little time to 
 write to you." She has luckily got the better of the 
 absurd malady, and she goes about again, taking great 
 care to do honour to her country. She is every day en 
 fete. " Yesternight Madame de Castlemaine treated 
 her in the most magnificent manner, and the King did 
 the honours of the house in a way befitting more a host 
 than a guest." ^ 
 
 Winter comes, and she resolves to go home. Charles 
 gives her a diamond ; she makes everything ready, 
 
 ^ To Lionne. August 18, 1664. 
 
 2 To Lionne. September i and 15, 1664. 
 
86 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 packs^her things and sends them away, gets her pass- 
 port and a pass for her horses, i But in those pre- 
 steamboat and railway^times, the journey was not to be 
 performed as it is now, at wilh Travellers were depen- 
 dent for- their starting upon the weather. When every- 
 thing is arranged she hears that on account of the ice 
 all traffic has been stopped. She has therefore to stay 
 and be very uncomfortable. " For a fortnight she has 
 had no clothing but what she had kept to meet her 
 journey." A few days later we are informed that the 
 supply being apparently exhausted, " she has had to 
 keep her room for want of apparel." ^ Luckily a thaw 
 has at last set in, and she is able to go and adorn St. 
 Germains again with her presence. 
 
 IV. Count News. 
 
 Fond of business as he was, Louis was too addicted 
 to pleasure not to enjoy tales and reports of the curious 
 occurrences happening among the fair ladies and bold 
 courtiers of his " brother's " court. We have seen him 
 remind Cominges not to fail to report the most 
 curious news of this sort ; and in this the old diplomatist 
 and soldier did not fail. Many of the fly-leaves he 
 used to enclose in his parcels for the amusement of his 
 master appear to have been lost, but some remain, and 
 in several cases the official dispatches themselves supply 
 
 ^ December 28, 1664. "Pass for the Countess of Cominges to 
 return to France, and another for two horses free of custom for the 
 service of the Count her husband." "Calendar of State Papers — 
 Domestic Series," years 1664-5. 
 
 ^ To Lionne. January 19 and 29, 1665. 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 87 
 
 the want. For there was only a nuance then between 
 court news and political news, and we constantly find 
 the one mixed up with the other. The former had 
 greater importance than now, and ambassadors reported 
 them the more freely as they were not restrained by 
 the thought of impending blue-books. 
 
 Cominges' statements do not contradict but rather 
 confirm the impression one gathers in reading Gramont 
 and Pepys. We see, appearing in his pages one by one, 
 the names of Mile. Stewart, Mile, de Hamilton, 
 Madame Middleton, and the other famous names to be 
 seen to-day written under the portraits at Hampton 
 Court. The painter, the ambassador, the diarist, all 
 agree. 
 
 Cominges has numerous descriptions of Charles, in 
 all of which the English sovereign appears, as was his 
 wont, as a good-humoured prince, hating business and 
 trouble, passionately fond of ease and amusement, 
 greatly enjoying his dance, his walk, his ride, and all 
 bodily exercises ; sad to death when the Queen is in 
 danger, happy as an angel when the Castlemaine smiles. 
 There are pictures of his going, in company with the 
 Queen, to see the ships put out of the Chatham dock- 
 yards, and "taking off his wig and pourpoint to be 
 more at his ease, by reason of the extreme heat of the 
 sun," I with the consequence that he caught a very bad 
 cold and had to be bled. There are descriptions of his 
 beginning the day in tears with his dying Queen and 
 ending it in laughter with the Castlemaine and the 
 Stewart : 
 
 " I am just come from Whitehall, where I have left 
 ^ July 17, 1664. 
 
88 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 the Queen in such a state that, according to physicians, 
 little room is left for hope. She has received the 
 extreme unction this morning." She has, moreover, 
 made her last recommendations to the King, asking him 
 to have her body sent back to Portugal, and not to 
 desert the cause of the little kingdom then hard 
 pressed by Spain. " The Portuguese are excessively 
 unpopular here, and their ambassador himself is not 
 secure from aspersions. They are accused, and he 
 especially, of having contributed by their bad manage- 
 ment to the death of the Queen, as they were the 
 reason of her spending two nights without sleep, one 
 night being devoted to the drawing up of her will and 
 the other to a leave-taking of all her servants. 'Tis 
 true that, to please her, she was left two or three days in 
 their hands ; but the King, having perceived that they 
 increased her illness and went even the length of having 
 her take a number of remedies of their country, has 
 put a stop to those doings. 
 
 " Though she has some little respite from time to 
 time, I despair of her recovery. . . . The King seems 
 to me deeply affected. Well ! he supped none the less 
 yesterday with Madame de Castlemaine and had his 
 usual talk with Mile. Stewart, of whom he is excessively 
 fond. There is already a talk of his marrying again, 
 and everybody gives him a new wife according to his 
 own inclination ; and there are some who do not look 
 beyond England to find one for him." ^ But Catherine 
 of Braganza took care to set all these plans to naught ; 
 cured of her physicians, thanks to her husband's kind- 
 ness, she recovered ; there were great rejoicings, none 
 ^ To the King. November i, 1663. 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 89 
 
 being more sincere, the ambassador wickedly observes, 
 than the Duke of York's and his wife's. 
 
 At that time, there was no doubt the Queen would 
 remain barren. All that was possible had been tried, 
 remedies, and the waters; but all had failed. In 1663 
 she had been to Tunbridge, and then to Bath. 
 " Parliament is about to be prorogued, to the satis- 
 faction of everybody. As soon as it is done, the King 
 will go to Plymouth, and then will join the Queen to 
 the waters. She is now physicking herself as a prepara- 
 tion for the waters, and in the hope it will facilitate the 
 result she intends, and for which she goes there." ^ The 
 journey takes place, and the town becomes empty : " One 
 of the greatest towns in the world is now turned into 
 a solitude. Neither ladies nor courtiers are to be seen 
 there ; the gentlemen have moved away, and without 
 any compassion for those who stay, have taken their 
 wives with them. 
 
 " The Queen, with her rather numerous court, is 
 still at Tunbridge, where the waters have done nothing 
 of what was expected. Well may they be called ' les 
 eaux de scandale,' for they nearly ruined the good name 
 of the maids and of the ladies (those I mean who were 
 there without their husbands). It took them a whole 
 month, and for some more than that, to clear them- 
 selves and save their honour ; and it is even reported 
 that a few of them are not quite out of trouble yet. 
 For which cause the Court will come back in a week ; 
 one of the ladies of the Queen stays behind and will 
 pay for the others. 
 
 '* A few days will be spent here, to gather strength, 
 ^ To the King. July 5^ 1663. 
 
90 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 and then a new journey will be undertaken, towards the 
 Baths, eight miles distant from here. Nothing will be 
 left unattempted to give a heir to the British crown." ' 
 The Queen, after all this physic, feeling very sick, her 
 doctors go about whispering the great news, but to their 
 shame it turns out that the symptoms are only due to 
 the quality of the waters that are " vitriolees." 
 
 While Catherine of Braganza takes the waters, 
 Charles follows his usual course with the Castlemaine 
 and the others. The star of the Stewart is rising : 
 *' There was a great row the other day among the 
 ladies ; it was carried so far that the King threatened 
 the lady at whose apartments he sups every evening that 
 he would never set foot there again if he did not find 
 the ' Demoiselle ' with her ; and for this cause the lady 
 is never without her." 2 Miss Stewart " did not par- 
 take of the communion at Whitsuntide," which is a 
 great mark of her sins, the Catholics contend. But, for 
 all that, she is " one of the most beautiful girls and one 
 of the most modest to be seen." 3 
 
 The King, however, who does not like to displease 
 any one, when he can avoid it without displeasing him- 
 self, does not give up the Castlemaine ; far from it ; and 
 he feels greatly offended when anything unpleasant 
 happens to the fair creature. Very unpleasant things 
 sometimes happened. We see her one night going 
 home after having spent the evening at St. James's 
 Palace with " Madame la Duchesse," and followed only, 
 
 ^ Cominges' Sheet of Court News. August, 1663. 
 
 2 To the King. July 5, 1663. 
 
 3 Marquis de Ruvigny (staying in London with a temporary 
 mission) to the King. June 25, 1663. 
 

ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 91 
 
 as an escort, by a maid and a little page. The party 
 are met suddenly " by three noblemen (so at least they 
 seemed from their garments) who wore masks and 
 addressed to her the harshest and bitterest reprimand 
 that can well be imagined. They even went so far as 
 to remind her that the mistress of Edward the Fourth 
 died on a dunghill, scorned and abandoned by everybody. 
 You can well imagine that the time seemed long to her, 
 for the park extends over a larger space than from 
 Regnard's to the Pavilion. As soon as she was in her 
 bedroom she fainted. The King being informed of 
 this ran to her, caused all the gates to be shut and all 
 the people found in the park to be arrested. Seven or 
 eight persons who happened thus to be caught were 
 brought in, but could not be identified. They have 
 told the tale ; it was wished to hush up the affair, but 
 I believe the secret will not easily be kept." ^ 
 
 The chain of the Whitehall amusements was as 
 follows : '* There is a ball and a comedy every other 
 day ; the rest of the days are spent at play, either at the 
 Queen's or at the Lady Castlemaine's, where the com- 
 pany does not fail to be treated to a good supper. In 
 this way. Sire, is the time occupied in this country. 
 The impending Parliamentary session will soon turn the 
 thoughts to other objects ; the cleverest have already 
 begun their canvassing, and the others wait for the 
 occasion to display their talents in this so illustrious 
 assembly." 2 
 
 Ships came from the far-off countries of the sun, and 
 after a year's journey round the Cape brought news for 
 
 ^ To Lionne. Oct. 2, 1664. 
 
 ^ To the King. January 25, 1663. 
 
92 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 the statesmen, goods for the merchants, presents for the 
 King, and trinkets for the ladies. Much noise was made 
 concerning gifts from India sent to Charles, and said to 
 be peerless. " But the King did me the honour to show 
 them, and laugh over them with me. They are 
 enclosed in a little purse of purple satin. There is a 
 yellow stone twice as big as the • Sancy, of such a good 
 shape as to be worth a million ; it would, however, be 
 purchased dear for a crown. There is another stone, a 
 red one, called a carbuncle, which looks rather fine ; 
 but I have seen many such on reliquaries, from which I 
 doubt they be of great value. There is also a white 
 and blue sapphire, excellent to adorn a bishop's ring, 
 and a very large pearl which the King gave to the 
 Queen ; nature had meant to make it round and white, 
 but failed.'* i 
 
 When the Court goes to the waters, the Whitehall 
 amusements follow in its wake ; not so when the 
 Universities are the goal of the journey. Divertise- 
 ments are doubtless provided, but of a less attractive 
 sort, and Charles has to take part in festivities con- 
 cerning which Cominges, lover as he was of the 
 ancients, writes : 2 " The Court is not returned yet 
 from its ' progres,' to adopt the word in use here. They 
 will reach Oxford to-day, and stay four days there to 
 enjoy such amusements as a University can provide. 
 . . . There is a talk of a variety of plays and of a 
 number of harangues, panegyrics, and epithalamies ; 
 Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, and Syrian being the best 
 
 To the King. August 18, 1664. 
 To the King. Oct. 16, 1667. 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 95 
 
 known among the languages resorted to. I doubt not 
 that, after these dull entertainments, they will return 
 with pleasure to more amusing ones at Whitehall." 
 
 As for Gramont, Cominges describes him as taking 
 in all these festivities the very same part allotted 
 to him by his brother-in-law Hamilton. The cheva- 
 lier had reached London nearly at the same time as the 
 Ambassador, and " had been received as kindly as 
 possible. He makes one in all the parties of the King, 
 and has his say at Madame de Castlemaine's." He 
 takes the part of that lady against Madame Jaret, who 
 revenges herself by certain ill-reports she spreads in 
 society, not sparing the King himself. The King, in 
 his turn, does not spare " that madcap of a Jaret ; it is 
 even whispered that the English word he used means 
 something more." Nothing daunted by this or by 
 anything, Gramont " follows his usual style of life. 
 He sees the ladies at the lawful hours, and a little also 
 at the forbidden ones. . . . The King constantly asks 
 him to his entertainments." A few months later we 
 find him true to himself, "and continuing his gallantries 
 as is his wont — that is making much noise and little 
 progress." He has just managed to have a very ridi- 
 culous affair with Madame Middleton, whose maid he 
 bribed, but the maid kept to herself both the money 
 and the love declarations of the chevalier. When at 
 length the lady heard of what was meant for her, as it 
 was not conveyed, it seems, with all the eloquence 
 Gramont had meant, she was nothing moved, but 
 ordered him to keep quiet and look elsewhere. 
 
 Gramont did not fail to take her at her word, and he 
 is now, six months after his coming, in a fair way to 
 
94 ^ FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 marriage. This creates quite a sensation, and the "pros 
 and cons are discussed at great length in the gilt halls 
 of the royal palace and in the ambassadorial dispatches. 
 Few marriages (except perhaps Panurge's own) have 
 been the cause of more discussions, and have elicited 
 a larger variety of opinions. Cominges was against it. 
 
 " The Chevalier de Gramont is so well pleased with 
 all the advantages accruing to him from his gallantries 
 that he means to build upon them what of his life he 
 has still to spend. But as he has noticed indeed that 
 his age is becoming a great obstacle to all his imaginary 
 pleasures, he has resolved to secure for himself more 
 solid ones by marrying. With this view he has cast 
 his eyes on a beautiful young demoiselle of the house 
 of Hamilton, niece to the Duke of Ormond, adorned 
 with all the grace of virtue and nobility, but so little 
 with mere material wealth that, according to those who 
 give her most, she has none. 
 
 " I think that at first the chevalier did not mean to 
 go so far in this business, but, be it that conversation has 
 completed what beauty began, or that the noise made 
 by two rather troublesome brothers may have had 
 something to do with it, certain it is that he has now 
 declared himself publicly. The King has given his 
 consent, and in consideration of the intended marriage 
 has given hopes of his providing for the board of the 
 lovers by means of some pension or other when he 
 can. 
 
 " As I saw that this marriage was the cause of endless 
 banter at Court, and that everybody talked of it 
 according to his humour, I took upon myself to try 
 and break it, or at least postpone it, but all without 
 

( S /yiv^./*' v^ . y(Mi /// / /ft 
 
 on 
 
 ' / > > 
 
 (6^ ^^r/t^r-C' At/ .. <<^// 
 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 95 
 
 success. I see now no remedy to an unavoidable evil, 
 recommended by a blind and performed by a disabled 
 man. He loaded me with a thousand false reasons, 
 which I would not entertain ; he received mine in the 
 same way ; and time will teach him which are the best. 
 I wish for his sake it may be his, but it does not seem 
 likely." ^ 
 
 The marriage being resolved, is publicly announced, 
 on the same day as the conversion of Madame de 
 Castlemaine. '' The King has been asked by the rela- 
 tions of the lady to interfere and prevent her ; but he 
 answered that, as for the soul of the ladies, he did not 
 meddle with that." 2 
 
 The nuptial ceremonies take place, and Gramont 
 greatly enjoys the thought of some day carrying his 
 " belle Anglaise " to France. His happiness is in- 
 creased when, the following year, he becomes the father 
 of a son as " beautiful as the mother." All the Court 
 has rejoiced with him, and " he looks much the younger 
 for the event ; but I think the hope he entertains of 
 soon going back to France has had something to do 
 with the wiping away of the wrinkles about his eyes 
 and forehead, and the recalling of the roses and lilies." 3 
 His temper and character are unfortunately exactly 
 what they were before. Having signed one of his 
 dispatches, the body of which is written by his secre- 
 tary, Cominges adds in the margin with his own hand : 
 " M. le Chevalier de Gramont has come back two 
 months ago. He has not altered since he married, 
 
 ^ Cominges' sheet of Court News, for the King, August, 1663. 
 
 2 To Lionne. December 31, 1663. 
 
 3 To Lionne. September 8, 1664. 
 
96 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 except in his having become such a downright Har as to 
 stand matchless in the world." ^ 
 
 Heroes of a different stamp also make their appear- 
 ance in the fly-leaves of Court news supplied to Louis 
 by his Ambassador, but they too do not always appear 
 there at their best. Noticeable among them is the 
 soldier usually called simply " le General." Monk 
 attracts the attention of Cominges by the unparalleled 
 splendour of his drinking capacities. In one of his 
 dispatches the Ambassador describes a little fashionable 
 fete, the style of which looks now very old-fashioned 
 indeed. " An amusing affair happened last week in 
 this Court. The Earl of Oxford, one of the first noble- 
 men of England, Knight of the Garter and an officer of 
 the Horse Guards, asked to dinner General Monk, the 
 High Chamberlain of the Kingdom, and some few other 
 Councillors of State. They were joined by a number of 
 young men of quality. The entertainment rose to 
 such a pitch that every person happened to become 
 a party to quarrels, both as offended and offender ; 
 they came to blows and tore each other's hair ; two of 
 them drew their swords, which luckily had a cooling 
 effect on the company. Each then went away according 
 as he pleased. Those who followed the General wanted 
 some more drink, and it was given them. They con- 
 tinued there till evening, and therefore wanted food. 
 Having been warmed by their morning and after- 
 dinner doings each resolved to see his companion 
 
 I To Lionne. January 28, 1664. Gramont had left for France 
 with his wife, shortly after the birth of his son, which had taken 
 place on September 7, 1664. He started on his journey on 
 November 3. 
 
ETIQUETTE AND COURT NEWS. 97 
 
 a-ground. The General, who is obviously endowed 
 with a strong head, struck a master stroke ; he presented 
 to each a goblet of the deepest. Some swallowed the 
 contents, and some not ; but all peaceably remained 
 where they were till the following morning, without 
 speaking to each other, though in the same room. 
 Only the General went to Parliament as usual, with 
 his mind and thoughts nothing impaired. 
 " There was much laughter at this." ^ 
 
 ^ To the King. May 28, 1663. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 
 
 FOREMOST among the curiosities of the land 
 which attract the notice of the Ambassador is that 
 strange assembly whither Monk, as we have just 
 seen, repaired after his drinking bout, the Parliament. 
 The importance of this institution was well known in 
 France, where its working was the cause of unceasing 
 wonder. When d'Estrades was sent to England, the 
 instructions he was provided with drew his attention to 
 the Westminster assembly, and to its democratic 
 tendencies. The Royal dispatch supplied him, on the 
 subject of the English nation and its representatives, 
 with the following important particulars : — 
 
 " His Majesty thinks it proper to inform the said 
 Sieur d'Estrades that the English Monarchy is made up 
 of three kingdoms, the inhabitants of which vary in 
 their tempers and inclinations. In one only thing they 
 agree, namely, in working with strenuous care to 
 reduce the Royal authority, and to place it under the 
 dependence of their Parliaments ; which Parliaments are 
 the States-general of each kingdom, and not a body of 
 
 magistrates as here." 
 
 98 
 
THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 99 
 
 Great attention was in consequence paid to the doings 
 of this extraordinary congregation, and the French 
 foreign office archives abound with accounts of its 
 sittings. The opening ceremony is several times 
 described— once, for example, by Secretary Batailler, in 
 charge of the Embassy when d'Estrades had had to 
 leave : — 
 
 " The King of England performed yesterday the 
 opening of Parliament in the Upper House. He was 
 adorned with the Royal cloak, and wore his crown ; he 
 was surrounded by his great officers of State ; he took 
 his seat ; the lords and bishops did the same, and then 
 he ordered the members of the Lower House to be 
 called. They rushed tumultuously (' tumultuaire- 
 ment ') into the Upper House, as the mob does in the 
 hall of audience at the Paris Parliament, when the 
 ushers have called. They remained on the other side 
 of a barrier which closes the pit where the lords sit, 
 their speaker standing in the middle. The King of 
 England then began his harangue," which is here 
 summarized. " This harangue, as I have said, lasted 
 nearly a quarter of an hour, and was very well delivered 
 by the King, near whom I happened to be, and was 
 translated to me by ' Milord Beleze ' [Bellasys]. One 
 thing I did not like : he had it all ready written in his 
 hand, and very often looked at his paper, almost as 
 if he had read it. I was informed that such was the 
 custom in England, the reason being that the King may 
 not expose himself to the laughter of the people by 
 stopping short through loss of memory. Preachers in 
 the pulpit do the same. If the Chancellor, whom his 
 gout prevented from being present, had been able to 
 
loo A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 perform his duty, the King would have been prompted 
 by him from behind." i 
 
 It will be noticed that if not all of the precedents 
 thus commemorated by Secretary of Embassy Batailler, 
 have been preserved to the present day, one at least has 
 been faithfully adhered to, and the rushing " tumultuaire- 
 ment " of the members of the one House to the bar of 
 the other has lost nothing in our days of its pristine 
 vigour and entrain. 
 
 All the explanations and descriptions Cominges had 
 received before his journey did not prevent him from 
 being deeply astonished at what he saw when he 
 reached England. The working of the institutions 
 and the management of parties were so extraordinary to 
 the mind of a subject of the Sun-King, that he could 
 scarcely believe his eyes. " If Aristotle, who attempted 
 to define even the smallest things pertaining to politics, 
 were to come again to this world, he could not find 
 words to explain the manner of this Government. It 
 has a monarchical appearance, as there is a King, but at 
 bottom it is very far from being a Monarchy. . . . 
 Whether this is caused by the fundamental laws of the 
 kingdom, or by the carelessness of the King, herein lies 
 the difficulty. . . . It is true that the disposition of the 
 laws of the country has limited in such a way the 
 power both of the King and his subjects that they 
 seem to be joined by indissoluble ties, in such a manner 
 that if one of the two parties were wanting, the other 
 would go to ruin." 2 
 
 This by no means unwise view of the English Con 
 
 ^ To Lionne (?). December i, 1661. 
 ^ To the King. February 4, 1664. 
 
THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. loi 
 
 stitution applies, Cominges thinks, to things as they 
 should be. As they are, the working of the institutions 
 is impeded by the abhorrence Charles feels for business 
 and trouble. His very Court *' is divided into four 
 or five parties (' cabal es '). The King, who ought to be 
 able to fuse them all into one, is at the head of the 
 weakest.'* Some of the virtues he is endowed with 
 would better fit a private person than a King, for " all 
 the virtues of private individuals are not Royal ones." ^ 
 Women play too important a part, " so that it can be 
 said with truth that the English are slaves to their 
 wives and mistresses." - 
 
 The Ambassador had not been a month at his post 
 when he set resolutely to work, and began, with the 
 help of books and friends and personal observation, to 
 draw up a report in which he tried to unravel the 
 mysteries of those same Parliamentary institutions which 
 were fit to puzzle Aristotle himself At that news 
 young Louis was " greatly pleased," and Lionne 
 " wanted words to say how delighted he was at the 
 thought " of receiving trustworthy information on 
 such a subject ; 3 and Louis again dictated a dispatch to 
 the effect that he was anxious to receive the memoir, 
 " not doubting it would be a very curious piece of 
 work.'' 
 
 At the beginning of April the report was ready, and 
 Cominges sent it, not without apology for " the mistakes 
 that may be in it ; the cleverest would have made some 
 in such an obscure matter." Louis has scarcely got 
 
 ^ To the King, January, 1663. 
 ^ To the King. February 4, 1664. 
 3 February 28, 1663. 
 
I02 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 the precious document in his hands, when, even before 
 reading it, he wants to acknowledge its receipt, and to 
 express his pleasure : " I shall greatly enjoy reading it ; 
 I mean to draw from it ideas that shall remain in my 
 mind for my better instruction on a matter of such deep 
 importance, a matter with which one has to deal every 
 day/' And it must not be believed that the cause of his 
 haste was the same as with us the busy men of to-day, 
 who " will not wait " till we have read, to thank for 
 a book, fearing there might be long waiting. On the 
 same day Lionne was able to write : — 
 
 " Since the King has signed the letter he sends to 
 you, his Majesty has had time to hear read, with the 
 greatest attention, from beginning to end, the fine work 
 you have forwarded to him concerning the Parliaments 
 of England. I had always thought you, sir, a well- 
 informed and clever cavalier ; but I must beg your 
 pardon for the wrong I long did you, in not thinking 
 you equal to such a task. Anything better written, 
 wiser, and more curiously worked out I never saw." 
 
 As is often the case with reports which attract par- 
 ticular attention, the King kept it by him, or Lionne, 
 or somebody else. Certain it is that it is not at 
 its place in the archives, and the search I insti- 
 tuted there was frustrated. It happened luckily that 
 Cominges had caused a copy of his memoir to be 
 made tor his predecessor and friend d'Es trades, and had 
 it forwarded to him at the Hague. D'Estrades left it 
 among his papers, and the text is to be found in a MS. 
 now preserved in the public library at Toulouse. ^ 
 
 ^ MS. 526. I owe the finding of Cominges's report there to 
 M. Abel Lefranc, of the "Archives Nationales," 
 
THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 103 
 
 It gives a fair account of the summoning of Parlia- 
 ments, the proceedings of the two Houses, their powers, 
 the privileges of the meriibers, and the part allotted to 
 the King, the way in which votes are taken, the order 
 of precedence of the various classes of members of both 
 Houses, &c., &c. It is obviously the result of much 
 reading and much consulting, Cominges not being afraid 
 of plunging, when need be, into the mist of antiquity, 
 and bringing back from his tenebrous expedition the 
 queer information that was then available. He informs 
 us, for example, that the word " Parliament " means 
 " loqui ex mente ; for it is a privileged place for mem- 
 bers of both Houses freely to speak their mind there, 
 were it against the King himself." The origin of the 
 institution is wrapt in mystery ; some find it among 
 the old Britons and Saxons and Danes ; to the exertions 
 of these last, learned people attribute " the famous relic 
 called Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain," which is, accord- 
 ing to these savants, the earliest House of Parliament 
 built in England. Daniel the prophet, the Medes and 
 Persians, William the Conqueror, each in their turn are 
 called to bring their more or less unexpected testi- 
 mony. But more noticeable than all this is the general 
 tone of reverence with which Cominges speaks of the 
 institution itself and of this body which, according to 
 him, can well be called " auguste." 
 
 Thus provided with a safeguard for its liberties, the 
 nation and its members of whatever class offered a sight 
 unique in Europe. By degrees only the working of the 
 machinery came to be understood, and continental 
 statesmen ceased to pity a King so dependent upon the 
 goodwill of his people, and a nation so utterly deprived 
 of a sole and absolute guide. 
 
104 A I'RENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 " Poor Prince ! " exclaims Choisy in his " Memoires," 
 thinking of the English sovereign, " who did not 
 remember that the thirty thousand men of his army 
 were Englishmen, ready to leave him as soon as he 
 attempted anything against their liberties. I well 
 remember having heard Savile, Envoy Extraordinary of 
 the English King to France, a man loaded with his 
 master's favours, say that he would be the first to take 
 up arms against him if he were to exceed his lawful 
 power and to attack, were it ever so little, the laws of 
 the kingdom." ^ 
 
 The personal liberty enjoyed by citizens in a town 
 unprovided with a Bastille was again for the Ambassador 
 a cause of endless wonder. Think of a Parliament 
 "the members of which are not only allowed to speak 
 their mind freely, but also to do a number of surprising, 
 extraordinary things, and even to call the highest people 
 (' les plus qualifies ') to the bar ! " Think of an Earl of 
 Bristol remaining free in the town, when he has accused 
 the Lord Chancellor of high treason ! 
 
 Bristol had first begun by going, though a peer, to 
 the Lower House, to make a speech against the Minis- 
 ters. At this the House had been very pleased ; but 
 not so the King. Charles begged to see the harangue ; 
 Bristol refused, then consented, and the King having 
 expressed his opinion that the speech was a seditious one, 
 was sharply answered by the Earl. Charles " rather 
 smoothly retorted that he would be a poor King indeed 
 if he were not able to quiet an Earl of Bristol. May 
 God spare your Majesty such subjects and such a lack 
 of power ! The King of England will wait till the 
 ^ " Mcmoires," Lescure's edition, i. p. 209. 
 
THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 105 
 
 end of the session, that is, about a fortnight, to notify 
 his will to the Earl of Bristol ; it will be probably 
 nothing more than an order not to appear at Court.'' ^ 
 
 Not at all " quieted " by his master, Bristol, a few 
 days later, did the deed he had contemplated from the 
 first, and launched in the House of Lords his charge 
 against Clarendon. " Nothing can be more astonishing 
 and extraordinary," writes Cominges, utterly bewildered, 
 " than what I have to inform your Majesty of, and you 
 will be not a little surprised when you see that, to find 
 precedents for it, you must go back in your mind to the 
 times that saw the violence of Sylla, the outbursts of the 
 Gracchi, and the accusation of Cassar (then a private 
 citizen) against Dolabella, who was endowed at that 
 time with the highest magistrature." Bristol was till 
 now merely " a presumptuous fool, blinded by his 
 vanity " ; but he has become '' a mad dog and bites all 
 round." 
 
 The sitting opened with a speech from the Duke of 
 York, who declared that his brother entirely disapproved 
 of the doings of Bristol. The Earl none the less made 
 his harangue against Clarendon, feeling bound to do it, 
 as he said, by the interest of the State. He is in despair 
 to thus incur the displeasure of the King, but having 
 had no choice, " he is ready to give up his life at the 
 behest of his master, and to hold out his ' estomac ' to 
 the sword of M. le Due d'York." He goes on speaking 
 at random in a scarcely intelligible fashion, and tries to 
 make the Lower House interfere. The Chancellor on 
 his part manages so as to have the accusation referred to 
 the ordinary judges : these men being all of them *' in 
 ^ To the King. July 16, 1663. 
 
io6 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 his own appointment." A very natural move, says 
 Cominges, but all the rest is very strange. " Here we 
 have a regular suit between a private person and the 
 Chancellor, this last having his high rank, his past ser- 
 vices, the goodwill of the King, of the Queen-mother, 
 of the Duke of York (whose wife gave birth yesterday 
 to a son), and of all the Court, to boast of; but the 
 other walks about town as if nothing were the matter, 
 and does not in the least give up hope of success. I 
 confess to your Majesty that I am at my wits' end (je 
 perds la tramontane), and that it seems to me as if I 
 were transported beyond the sphere of the moon." ^ 
 
 So extraordinary is the case that Cominges recurs to 
 it in his private letters with fresh exclamations, and, 
 addressing de Lionne, writes again : " You will see in 
 my dispatch to his Majesty how the clouds which rose 
 in the evening gave birth on the Friday to storms and 
 thunderbolts. I must confess that nothing in the world 
 is more surprising than what is to be seen in this Court, 
 and less easily intelligible to a man who has been brought 
 up under a different Government and different laws. It 
 seems to me, every moment, I have been transferred to 
 the antipodes, when I see a private gentleman walking 
 the streets, sitting as a judge in Parliament, receiving 
 the visits of his political friends, and leading no less 
 pleasant a life than usual, when he has accused of capital 
 crimes the first officer of the State, a dignitary on the 
 best terms with his master, supported by the Oueen- 
 mother, and father-in-law to the heir of the crown." - 
 
 ^ To the King. July 23, 1663. 
 
 '^ July 23, 1663. Clarendon himself is greatly dismayed, and 
 he fears he may lose what consideration he enjoyed abroad. 
 
THE LIBERTIES OE ENGLAND. 107 
 
 To which Lionne answers, with a great appearance of 
 truth : ''If anybody had attacked here M. le Chancelier 
 au Parlement, you may readily believe that he would not 
 be seen at play every day on the bowling-green, and 
 that there would be no great competition to marry into 
 his house.*' 
 
 The thing goes on for weeks and months. The 
 Chancellor is faithfully supported by his daughter, 
 " Madame la Duchesse d'York, who is as worthy a 
 woman (aussi brave femme) — the word ' honnete ' is not 
 strong enough — as I have met in my life ; and she up- 
 holds with as much courage, cleverness, and energy the 
 dignity to which she has been called, as if she were of 
 the blood of the kings, or of Guzman at the least, or 
 Mendoce." i 
 
 Clarendon is cleared by his judges, but the agitation 
 in the country is great. One day the Duke of Bucking- 
 ham is seen '^ ready to get to horse and ride post-haste 
 towards the Duchy of York, this being his Govern- 
 ment " ; 2 other lords are about to do the same, and 
 leave the Whitehall amusements, so disquieting is the 
 intelligence received from the country. In the streets 
 of London the " insolence of the mob " is on the 
 increase, and they are seen to drink publicly the health 
 of Bristol as being " le champion de la patrie." 3 
 
 For this and sundry other reasons it does not seem 
 
 He causes Bellings to write to Lionne on his behalf: "He hopes 
 you will form no ill opinion of him on account of those charges." 
 July 24, 1663. 
 
 ^ To the King. August 7, 1664. 
 
 2 To the King. August 9, 1663. 
 
 3 To Lconne. October 8, 1663. 
 
io8 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 impossible to Cominges that the English '' may be 
 tempted again to try and taste a commonwealth." ^ For 
 they well remember the part they played in the world 
 when Cromwell ruled over them : a better reason for a 
 possible change than any trouble raised by Bristol. 
 
 All this the Sun-King read with great attention ; he 
 pondered over Cominges's accounts of parliamentary insti- 
 tutions and the way they worked, over the inconveniences 
 of houses where members could loqui ex mente and say 
 freely all that came into their heads. The result of his 
 meditations on this troublesome subject he caused to be 
 noted down, in his memoirs, for the instruction of his 
 son and of his descendants : " This subjection which 
 places the sovereign under a necessity to receive the law 
 from his people is the worst evil which can happen to a 
 man in our situation. ... I must now represent to 
 you the misery of those who are abandoned to the 
 indiscreet will of an assembled rabble (une populace 
 assemblee). ... A prince who wants to leave some 
 lasting tranquillity to his people and an unimpaired 
 prerogative to his successors cannot too carefully 
 suppress that tumultuous audacity. 
 
 " But," the Sun-King added, with a complacent smile, 
 *' this is lingering too much on a subject which has no 
 personal interest for you, and which may serve only to 
 enlighten you on the sad state of your neighbours. For 
 it is not doubtful that when you reign after me, you 
 will find no authority that does not consider itself 
 honoured for deriving from you its origin and character ; 
 no constituted body which, in the matter of its suffrages, 
 will wander from the bounds of respect ; no company 
 ^ To the King. May 5, 1664. 
 
THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND. 109 
 
 which does not understand that its grandeur is linked to 
 the good of your service, and that its safety depends 
 upon its humble submission." ^ 
 
 So much for the prophesying power of Cominges, who 
 foresaw a republic established in England, and of Louis 
 Quatorze, who foretold of an absolute monarchy finally 
 established in France for ever. 
 
 ^ " Memoires dc Louis XIV," Dreyss's ed., Paris, 1868, 2 vols., 
 8vo. vol. ii. ; "Supplement aux Memoires de I'annee 1666," pp. 6,, 
 et seq. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 RELIGIOUS MATTERS. 
 
 WHILE political institutions offered to a subject 
 of the Sun-King such a field for observation, 
 the situation of the Church and the manage- 
 ment of religious affairs was a scarcely smaller cause of 
 wonder. 
 
 In France there was only one source of political 
 authority,' only one of religious power, only one literary 
 ideal, one art, and one philosophy ; so thought at least 
 the *' gens bien pensants," Cominges among them. The 
 avenues to heaven were neatly cut, easily perceptible, as 
 straight and grand as were the avenues of Versailles, they 
 could not be mistaken ; few dared to stray out of them 
 into the brambles and bushes ; later in the reign sentries 
 with loaded muskets guarded the line to prevent any 
 wanderings into the forbidden lands ; and from the 
 windows of his palace old Louis Quatorze, whose sun 
 was setting, could at least please himself with the 
 thought that all his subjects, without exception, had no 
 choice but to follow the right road to everlasting 
 felicity. 
 
 Not so in England : brambles spread themselves at the 
 
RELIGIO US MA TTERS. 1 1 1 
 
 very gate of Whitehall ; the avenues were overgrown ; 
 sentries were derided ; their muskets missed fire, and 
 sharpshooters in disquieting numbers filled the under- 
 woods. 
 
 The variety of religions in England greatly puzzled 
 the French Ambassador ; his tone, when he speaks of 
 *' caquiers " and " millenaires," is not very respectful, and 
 he anticipates catastrophes from this want of uniformity 
 in creeds. It must be observed, however, that, though a 
 devout Christian himself, Cominges was no bigot, and he 
 spoke of the minor beliefs of his own co-religionists with 
 great freedom. The important point was not to wander 
 outside the avenues, but, so long as one kept within 
 them, much was allowed. The tone of Cominges's 
 correspondence with Lionne concerning the Roman 
 curia is remarkable for the liberty of the judgments 
 passed upon papal policy, indulgences, &c. 
 
 The Court of Rome, it is true, was not then in favour 
 with the grand Monarch. The French Ambassador, 
 the Marquis de Crequi, had been grossly insulted and 
 assaulted by the papal guards ; one of his wife's pages 
 had been killed by them (1662), and a negotiation was 
 pending demanding satisfaction on account of this rough 
 breach of etiquette. War was even contemplated ; the 
 Pope was levying recruits in Switzerland, and, much to 
 the disgust of Lionne, was using for it the monies left 
 to him as a legacy by Cardinal Mazarin, though the late 
 Eminence had stated that they should be used against 
 the Turk. His Holiness was mistaking for a Turk, 
 Lionne wrote, i the eldest son of the Church ! But a 
 fleet was making ready at Toulon, which would cool 
 
 ^ Lionne to Cominges. February 28, 1663 ; August 12, 1663. 
 
112 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 the military ardour of the Roman ecclesiastics. So much 
 temerity on the part of these men of peace is, Cominges 
 answers, a sign of the times ; things are greatly altered 
 since the centuries of faith and the Holy Ghost has 
 visibly withdrawn from the Roman curia, i The Pope 
 at length submits, and this creates a great impression 
 throughout Europe, in London as elsewhere. Cominges 
 congratulates his friend Lionne upon his success, recom- 
 mending to him, however, to be careful and to hold the 
 Roman diplomatists very tight : " I expect everything of 
 monks and bigots." ^ 
 
 A legate is sent by the Pope to arrange matters, 
 but he is long in coming, "he is so big and fat." 3 
 When he has reached France, endless difficulties arise, 
 the negotiation is interrupted and a rumour is spread 
 that he has placed Avignon under an interdict. But it 
 is not true, says Lionne, and even " had he had time to 
 cast this censure over the place it would have had no 
 effect and would have been badly executed." 4 
 
 In the meantime, the adversaries of Louis circulate 
 the most absurd news as to his designs. He is at one 
 time reported to intend an occupation of Geneva, and 
 he begs his agents abroad to destroy this dangerous 
 legend, giving Cominges at the same time an indication 
 of his ideas as to his duty in religious matters, to which 
 ideas it is a pity he did not strictly adhere all his. life. 
 " Do not omit anything in your power to destroy this 
 fable of a siege of Geneva which some, out of envy 
 towards me, spread, that I may lose the friendship of 
 
 I To the King. November 26, 1663. ^ March 3, 1664. 
 
 3 Lionne to Cominges. April 3, 1663. 
 
 4 The King to Cominges. October 13, 1663. 
 
RELIGIO US MA TTERS. 1 1 3 
 
 all the Protestants, who have often been a very useful 
 help to France. My adversaries want to secure that 
 help to themselves. Never has this thought crossed my 
 mind, as the event will show. I have all the zeal I 
 ought for the true worship of God, but I do not believe 
 it is His will that it be established by arms and through 
 the invasion of foreign states." ^ 
 
 " Do, please, destroy, by sneers or good reasons,'* 
 Lionne writes, on his part, " this newly-started ab- 
 surdity concerning Geneva. How could it be .^ We 
 are at daggers and swords drawn with the Court of 
 Rome — greatly to our regret — and they fancy the 
 storm that is brewing will explode on the Vatican's 
 bitterest enemies, who did no ill to us, and who would 
 have done anything rather than assassinate our Am- 
 bassador ! " 2 
 
 The difference is at length composed : a Legate comes 
 to Paris to present the excuses of his master ; a pyramid 
 is raised in Rome and an exceedingly fine medal is 
 struck to commemorate the event.3 Cominges is 
 delighted at the news, and again congratulates his 
 friend upon his success : " May you fully enjoy the 
 sight of Monseigneur the Legate, who will, I doubt 
 not, greet you in a most gracious manner, as he owes 
 his mission to you more than to any one else. He 
 cannot, without ingratitude, refuse to you a large 
 number of indulgences and consecrated beads, given 
 that, not to speak of the madness of his family and 
 
 ^ January 28, 1663. 2 January 28, 1663. 
 
 3 It represents the Legate reading the apology of the Pope to 
 Louis XIV. ; the die is preserved at the Hotel des Monnaies, 
 Paris. 
 
 8 
 
114 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 the firmness of the King, you are the true cause of his 
 having been honoured with such a fine and magnificent 
 function. If any such fall into your hands — I do not 
 speak of functions ; I would have none of this sort — 
 I mean indulgences — send me a good deal of them, for 
 in this country opportunities for using them are not 
 scarce, though most of the men and women do not 
 hold such boons with suflicient consideration." The 
 other part of society, however, is in such a need of them 
 as to " exhaust the provision the Legate may have 
 carried with him when leaving the place from whence 
 they spring." ^ 
 
 Bitter quarrels all these, but family quarrels ; and the 
 point was that, quarrelling or not, the family remained 
 one. When the question was of the main problems of 
 our lives, Cominges's tone was quite different ; he did 
 not sneer any longer. Having been advised by Lionne 
 to take some diversion, because it would do good to his 
 mind and improve his health, he answers : " My age 
 does not allow of these useless occupations ; and what 
 I have left of life I will turn into account with regard 
 to my death, considering, in the past, my faults to detest 
 them, and, in the future, nothing else but eternity. 
 What do you think of these thoughts ^ Are they not 
 Christian ones, and better than those of some who at 
 fifty still butterfly it (volent le papillon) and go and are 
 burnt by the smallest light that shines in their eyes. 
 Only too long did I follow such bad examples." - His 
 feelings were, in fact, similar to Montaigne's, who, in a 
 famous passage of his " Essays," declares that the great 
 thing in life is to ''build one's death." 
 
 ^ June 19, 1664. ^ December 24, 1663. 
 
RELIGIO US MA TTERS. 1 1 5 
 
 / Looking around him, Cominges was struck with the 
 multiph'city of beliefs entertained by the English nation, 
 and his forebodings were accordingly very sombre. He 
 shudders when thinking of " this nation so deeply 
 gnawed and ruined by false religions that nothing short 
 of a miracle will be wanted to save it."' On another 
 occasion he informs Lionne of the burial of a dissenting 
 minister : " Six days ago they buried a minister belonging 
 to the third monarchy sect ; and his body was fol- 
 lowed by more than ten thousand men." What can 
 the third monarchy be ? Lionne inquires. " A most 
 proper question," Comingesl answers. " The third 
 monarchy sect claims no other author and adherent 
 than my secretary and myself, who, thanks to the ill- 
 pronouncing of the one or the ill-hearing of the other, 
 have given birth to it. But I smother it in its cradle 
 and place in its room the fifth monarchy, being the 
 monarchy of the just, under which the end of the 
 world will happen ; a creed not very different from the 
 tenets of the millenarists, to whom it is proper to join 
 the anabaptists, * Kakers,' and a number of other 
 enthusiasts. . . . They it is who gave so much pomp 
 to the funeral of the late preacher." ^ 
 
 More serious doings take place daily in the provinces. 
 Fanatics swarm everywhere " though the prisons be full 
 of them and soldiers constantly running after them." 3 
 Charles himself is greatly in favour of the Catholic 
 creed, for political as well as religious causes : " He 
 will do nothing against our religion, except under 
 
 ^ To the King. September 13, 1663. 
 
 2 September 27 and October 5, 1663. 
 
 3 To Lionne. September 29, 1664. 
 
ii6 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 pressure of his Parliament. I find he is well aware that 
 no other creed matches so well with the absolute 
 authority of kings." ^y Lo"g dispatches are forwarded 
 to Louis to make him aware of the discontent created 
 in one or the other part of the population by the 
 various acts concerning religious questions, passed by 
 the King and Parliament. The Declaration of 1663 
 (concerning the " dispensing " power of the Crown) 
 has produced among the parties a variety of com- 
 motions, " according as they are moved by hate towards 
 their King, by love for the Republic, or scorn for the 
 ministry." 2 As for the Act of Uniformity (1662), it 
 has had " such baleful effects that conspiracies against 
 his Majesty have been discovered, and sentences of 
 death or exile have been passed. . . . But far from the 
 fanatics being overawed, they are the more ready to 
 attempt the life of members of the royal family, caring 
 so little for their own lives that they seem to run to 
 death as if there was no other remedy to their 
 wrongs." 3 
 
 Worse than all is the state of Catholics in Ireland. 
 They have been dispossessed of their lands, and the 
 King has pledged himself at the time of his accession 
 not to trouble the Protestant occupiers of them. The 
 Irish, in the meanwhile, are famished and get no pity. 
 The King, it is true, is kindly disposed towards them, 
 as he is towards everything and everybody, but his is 
 an empty kindness which has been followed by no acts 
 as yet : " The King of Great Britain, who is by nature 
 very kind and just, would like that each and all might 
 
 ^ April 12, 1663. 2 To the King. January 22, 1663. 
 
 3 Same dispatcJi. 
 
RE LI G 10 US MA TTERS. 1 1 7 
 
 have only cause to be pleased and none to complain ; 
 but under whichever side the affair be looked into, it is 
 so thorny and has been obscured by so many Acts of 
 Parliament, and by the pledge taken by the King at his 
 accession, that it is impossible to discover means to 
 settle satisfactorily the affair, and to dispense justice to 
 the one and to leave untouched the rights of the 
 others. . . . 
 
 '* The expelled ones are feeble, and the land-owners 
 powerful, which insures the total ruin for ever of that 
 unfortunate nation that grazes grass in the fields and 
 has no other place of abode but woods and caverns 
 — while their enemies, loaded with greater sins than 
 themselves, triumph over them and get rich from their 
 spoils." ^ 
 
 Economic laws are passed from time to time, and 
 make the situation worse : " Parliament has resolved 
 after a two days discussion, to prohibit the importation 
 of cattle from Ireland into England. This will be a 
 new cause of ruin for the Irish, who had no other trade 
 left but that one." ^ ^ 
 
 Another sign of the times noted by Cominges, con- 
 sists in the increase of prophets and soothsayers as well 
 in society as out of it. Some foretell disasters, " thus 
 giving great pain and anxieties to people of the old 
 stamp, who still revere the memory of Merlin and King 
 Arthur." 3 Some pester Cominges himself in the hope 
 of converting him to their beliefs. Vain, however, 
 were their efforts, as this letter testifies : — 
 
 ^ To Lionne. June 23, 1664. 
 
 2 Cominges, Verneuil, and Courtin to the King. November i, 
 1665. 3 Cominges to Lionne. January 19, 1665. 
 
ii8 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 " To the inborn curiosity I have in getting informa- 
 tion concerning all that takes place in the world I owe 
 the visits of the Earl of Pembroke. . . . This noble- 
 man, as innocent as a lamb ... is so deeply convinced 
 of the truth of all the prophecies I mentioned to you of 
 late, and so earnestly desirous that everybody may 
 wander in his mind as much as he does, that he spends 
 his finest rhetoric to enlist me as a member of his party. 
 . , . He is convinced that you are a downright worthy 
 man, equal to the grandest things, but he asserts that 
 all those gifts are not enough, and that many excellent 
 people are to be seen endowed with such, who speak 
 contemptuously of prophecies. I did not conceal from 
 him that I was afraid you were somewhat tainted by 
 this disease and that it would be no easy task to curb 
 you to blind submission. . . . 
 
 " Such is now my only entertainment in England, 
 but if it lasts long I am resolved to leave town. . . . 
 These fools have got it into their head to pester me and 
 to make a prophet of me, which in truth is a plain 
 matter enough, and consists in running about the streets, 
 making grimaces, answering out of purpose, and by 
 monosyllables, raising the eyes to heaven, keeping one's 
 hat en, and being very dirty. . . . 
 
 " But this is enough of jesring while we are in the 
 Holy Week ; I must at least allow some interval of 
 time between this and the Tenebras which I am going 
 to hear. The King has done me the honour to lend me 
 his French musicians, thanks to whom a number of 
 people in society come to my chapel, Madame de Castle- 
 maine especially, whom I mean to regale as well as I can."i 
 ^ To Lionne. April 17, 1664. 
 
RELIGIO US MA TTERS. 1 1 9 
 
 Catholic worship was performed, by diplomatic privi- 
 lege, in the chapel annexed to Exeter House ; and there 
 Cominges had the pleasure, not only of " regaling " 
 Lady Castlemaine and the " beau monde " with good 
 music, but to secure every day a large attendance to the 
 masses said there by his chaplain. His pleasure on this 
 score would have been unmixed but for the expense it 
 entailed; but he considered it unpolitical, as well as 
 unchristian, to retrench on this item. In one of his 
 numerous complaints concerning his insufficient salary 
 and the high prices one has to pay for everything in 
 London, we read : " This is, without comparison, the 
 place in the world where expenses are largest, and where 
 money is most freely squandered. We are, I think, 
 very lucky in the absence of an Ambassador of Spain ; 
 our master could not then refuse to open his purse. It 
 is an impossibility to live here upon two thousand 
 crowns (ecus) per month. Without speaking of extra- 
 ordinary expenses, only the hiring of houses, the change, 
 the carriage of letters absorb a third of what his Majesty 
 gives me. I would not complain if I had means to 
 defray this expense, but the idea that I may be shamed 
 in this puts me on the rack. ... I did not even men- 
 tion to you the costs of the maintenance of my chapel, 
 which pass all I had expected ; they are large, but so 
 indispensable that it would be better to retrench in 
 everything else rather than not show magnificence in 
 this. I have every day six masses, which are scarcely 
 enough for the number of people who come to hear 
 them. There are as many as sixty or eighty com- 
 munions each Sunday, and the number will largely 
 increase as soon as the chase is given to the priests." ' 
 ' To Lionnc. April 19, 1663. 
 
120 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 / While orthodoxy is thus propagated with the help of 
 music and the support of Lady Castlemaine, prophets 
 continue to multiply. When they have not, as the 
 Earl of Pembroke, the privilege to belong to society, 
 they are summarily disposed of : " We are in the land 
 of prophets. We have here a new Jeremiah who speaks 
 only of fires and flames; he has been sent to gaol. 
 Another asserts that he has had a vision in which God 
 has declared to him the day and place of Judgment, the 
 number and quality of the elect. This one has accepted 
 six Jacobuses to go and disclose his revelations outside 
 London." i 
 
 As for the Established Church, its " bishops (not one 
 of whom is of noble extraction) are held in no con- 
 sideration ; and, to speak the truth, it appears very 
 strange to see in the stalls of the choir a bishop and 
 canons dressed in their pontifical robes, have by them 
 their wives and children. A Scotchman wrote some 
 time ago as to this : Vidi episcopum et episcopam, 
 episcopulos et episcopulas. I saw the bishop and 
 the bishopess, and the little bishops and little 
 bishopesses." 2 
 
 The avenues were overgrown with weeds, and the 
 sentries were derided. 
 
 ^ To Lionne. December 10, 1663. 
 2 To Lionne. August 15, 1665. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LA GUERRE ET LA PAIX. 
 
 BUSINESS was also the subject of the Ambassador's 
 correspondence. An enormous number of dis- 
 patches of an appalling length bear testimony to 
 his diplomatic zeal — a zeal which, however, as it turned 
 out, was all spent in vain. 
 
 The key-stone to the foreign policy of Louis at that 
 time was, as we know, Spain. The pride of the 
 Spanish house was to be humbled down ; valuable spoils 
 were to be appropriated ; towards this object Lionne 
 was to provide reasons sufficient ; Conde and Turenne 
 men and guns. There were, however, difficulties in the 
 way. 
 
 The principal difficulty came from the fact that with 
 all its power, riches, expanse of sea-coasts, France had, 
 so to say, no navy. Not far from her territory, on the 
 north and east, two rival nations, England and Holland, 
 covered the sea with their ships. France was so far behind 
 them as not even to be admitted to the honour of the 
 contest. It was indispensable, in order that she might 
 act freely on land, that she should feel secure concerning 
 the attitude of the naval powers ; a result which she 
 
122 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 might obtain either by binding the two naval countries 
 to keep the peace, or by entering into an alliance with 
 one of them against both the other and Spain too. 
 
 Louis tried both experiments, the peaceful and the 
 warlike one ; he tried also both alliances, the Dutch one 
 and the English too. For a number of reasons the 
 English alliance accorded more with his personal wishes ; 
 the help of the English could be more effectual ; they 
 were a heretical nation, it is true, but the case was not 
 hopeless ; they had had a taste of Republic, but they 
 were not, as the Dutch, confirmed, irretrievable "repub- 
 liquains " ; lastly, a recommendation to court the 
 English alliance was the last legacy of dying Mazarin. 
 In the letter to his brother of England notifying the 
 death of his " cousin " the Cardinal, Louis puts forward 
 this last plea : "I feel assured that for the love of me, 
 and on account of the esteem and affection with which 
 you honoured my said cousin, you will give some 
 regrets to his memory, and especially when you know 
 that the advice he most ardently tried to impress upon 
 my mind during his last and most painful sufferings was 
 to bind myself to you in as straight a friendship and 
 union as I could, and so to arrange as to make the 
 interests of both our States similar." ^ 
 
 The lesson was not lost, and from that day, with an 
 ever-present persistence, Louis kept in view the line ot 
 conduct thus drawn by Mazarin. For many years his 
 attempts to knit himself to the English King were 
 never given up. Even when at war with him he had 
 this plan before his eyes, hoping, when peace would be 
 restored, to be able to fulfil it. Drafts for a treaty of 
 ^ Louis to Charles. March ii, 1661. 
 
LA GUERRE ET LA PALX. 123 
 
 intimate union ^ and for a restoration of the Catholic 
 religion abound in the French archives, some by French 
 and some by English hands. 
 
 Several obstacles lay in the way. The unsurmount- 
 able one proved to be the temper of the English nation. 
 In this case as in many similar circumstances it steadily 
 adhered to its own policy ; statesmen could be per- 
 suaded, courtiers won, kings put to sleep ; but the 
 nation remained as it was. That statesmanship which 
 never failed it in great crises, and which had in former 
 times so powerfully helped Elizabeth to be a great 
 queen, was a contrary element, the power of which 
 Louis was too clever to ignore, and over which he could 
 prevail only for short periods. 
 
 Spain was the enemy. She had given a daughter of 
 her house as a wife to Louis, while Portugal, with 
 whom she was at war, had given a wife to Charles ; but 
 tTie English hated the Portuguese, and the French 
 wanted to break the power of Spain. This made the 
 diplomatic game rather intricate, the more so as Spain 
 was at peace with France, and had exchanged with her 
 in the last treaties the most express assurances of friend- 
 ship. The two kings had bound themselves to love 
 and help one another " as good brothers." ? It had 
 
 ^ *'Art. I. — II y aura ligue defensive contre tous generalement 
 avec lesquels Tun ou Tautre des Seigneurs Rois se trouveront en 
 guerre, soit par des rebellions et hrouilleries qui leur seront suscitees 
 par leurs propres sujets ou guerre etrangere." Draft submitted to 
 Louis by the Earl of St. Albans, Fontainebleau, July 10, 1661. 
 
 2 *' Art. I. — II est convenu et accorde que . . . les Rois Tres 
 Chretien et catholique . . . s'entr'aimeront comme bons frcres, 
 procurants de tout leur pouvoir le bien, Thonneur et la reputation 
 I'un de Tautre." Treaty of the Pyrenees, November 7, i6:;9. 
 
124 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 been understood that Spain would have Portugal if she 
 could conquer it, and France Poland if the French 
 King could secure the crown for one of his family. 
 The pretext for a change of attitude towards Spain 
 arose from these arrangements. 
 
 " This letter shall be deciphered by the Comte 
 d'Estrades himself," Louis writes (July i6, 1661), 
 and in that letter he explains his grievance. The 
 Spaniard does not adhere closely to the peace arrange- 
 ments ; seeing which, Louis has taken counsel with his 
 advisers, and they have agreed that he is no longer 
 bound by his word. " It was considered on this occa- 
 sion that the opposition and the difficulties thrown in 
 the way by the Emperor, moved to this by the 
 Spaniards, in order to prevent the Polish crown falling, 
 according to my wish, to one of my family, were an 
 open breach of the first article of the treaty of peace. 
 The two Kings had bound themselves, by this article, 
 sincerely to procure, with all their might, and as good 
 brothers, the advantage the one of the other. I am, 
 therefore, no more bound to second my brother the 
 Catholic King in his attempts to recover the Portuguese 
 crown than he to help me to secure the Polish one for 
 my house." 
 
 The English and French interests, therefore, agree, 
 both countries being opposed to Spain. The English 
 King must hasten to conclude his Portuguese marriage, 
 which was then only in contemplation ; he will lend his 
 help to the house of Braganza against Spain. France 
 will provide the money. 
 
 But the Armada times were remote times ; the 
 English nation was very far from entertaining towards 
 
LA GUERRE ET LA PAIX. 125 
 
 the Spaniard the feeHngs it had in former times ; the 
 power it doubted most was not Spain, but France. Mr. 
 Pepys very exactly summarized the situation when he 
 wrote : " We do naturally love the Spanish and hate 
 the French." This love and this hate the French 
 Ambassadors had against them, and all their efforts 
 were bent upon foiling the effect of these feelings. 
 
 To obtain naval and military aid for Portugal, while 
 France would provide the money, and to arrange a 
 treaty of closer union between France and England, 
 were the two main objects assigned by Louis to his 
 representatives at the British Court. D'Estrades's 
 mission had been unexpectedly closed, and all he had 
 been able to report to his master was favourable 
 assurances from heedless Charles concerning the con- 
 templated union. Cominges had been despatched to 
 London with all speed to turn these assurances to 
 account before they had been forgotten. But he was 
 not long in discovering that his was no easy task. 
 
 Louis, who did not like much waiting, had been in 
 hopes the treaty would be arranged in a trice. Co- 
 minges found the English statesmen in a very different 
 mood. They were in business questions slow and 
 sleepy ; they put forth endless pretexts for delays, and 
 discovered objections and difficulties without number. 
 " We must have patience," Cominges wrote. '' Men 
 here scarcely know themselves; they have almost no- 
 form of government ; the evils they have suffered are 
 yet so recent that all their efforts aim at preventing the 
 return of the same. . . . They are cold, slow, phleg- 
 matic, . . . motionless, frozen," &c.i The Chancellor 
 
 ^ To the King. February 12, 1663. 
 
126 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 argues that Cominges, having then not made his entree, 
 is not yet an ambassador proper, and cannot legitimately 
 negotiate. " An absurd reason this," observes the 
 Sun-King. " The entree has nothing to do with it, 
 provided the Ambassador has regular powers. The 
 Sieur de Lionne has treated even of the peace at 
 Madrid concealed in a hole of the Buen Retiro. . . . 
 May be the Chancellor thinks his master inclines rather 
 towards Spain than towards me." ^ Woe to him if he 
 does, and woe to the Grand Council of Spain — " that 
 Council of Spain which attributes to itself the qualifica- 
 tion of eternal by reason that it never alters its maxims, 
 but goes straight to its goal till it has reached it : so it 
 does, may be, with secondary Powers ; but with the 
 help of God I have succeeded somewhat in shaking 
 hese high maxims." ^ 
 
 In vain. The English nation would not allow itself 
 to be reasoned out of its hatred of France. Cominges 
 could not doubt it, and he was soon to write, using word 
 for word the same language as Pepys : " Les Anglais 
 haizsent naturellement les Fran^ais." 3 This feeling 
 displayed itself on all occasions ; the most absurd 
 rumours were circulated and readily believed when 
 contrary to the French interest : "I must end with 
 a piece of news which will make you laugh. Two days 
 ago I presented to the Queen-mother the calash which 
 the King has sent to her. Half the town, I believe, 
 ran to see it ; and they were saying the one to the other 
 that this was the tribute paid by France to England, 
 
 ^ The King to d'Estrades (then at the Hague). April 13, 1663. 
 
 2 The King to Cominges. October 17, 1663. 
 
 3 To the King. May 10, 1663. 
 
LA GUERRE ET LA FALX. 127 
 
 and that to conceal this obligation I had been permitted 
 by the King of England to offer it to his mother. 
 After that, I hope you will not doubt my cleverness, 
 seeing how skilfully I have drawn a veil over the 
 misfortunes of my country." ^ The Exchange has 
 become such a fine place for the invention of false news 
 as to " rival the Piazza Navone or the Rialto," these 
 places being, as everybody knows, " the kingdom proper 
 of news-makers." 2 
 
 If an English Ambassador was sent to Spain, the 
 mob accompanied him in the streets with hurrahs 
 and arranged a triumph for him : " Four days ago M. 
 Fancho (Fanshaw) left for Spain, where he goes as an 
 Ambassador, in one of the finest vessels of the King his 
 master. I think that out of vanity he purposely passed 
 my door for me to see how he was escorted on board. 
 He was in one of the Royal coaches, accompanied by 
 twelve horsemen and followed by twenty coaches 
 drawn by six horses. His equipage is a match for 
 Jean de Paris's own, and a number of young noblemen 
 follow him out of curiosity. The King has lent him 
 four splendid pieces of tapestry and a number of vases 
 and utensils in gilt silver. ... A large quantity of the 
 common people accompanied him, making loud vows 
 for his success in his mission." 3 
 
 Matters were not so easy when the question was of 
 French affairs. The unpopularity Clarendon had won 
 for himself by the sale of Dunkirk (so great that the 
 
 ^ To Lionnc. February 16, 1665. 
 
 2 To the King. January 15, 1664. 
 
 3 To Lionnc. February 4, 1664. 
 
128 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 people baptised his fine new house the New Dunkirk) ' 
 made him shy of French Ambassadors and things. He 
 was not to be seen ; he had the gout ; he had been 
 ordered to the country ; when he could be met, his 
 inability to speak French was another difficulty, and he 
 scarcely concealed his regret not to have to do with 
 d'Estrades, whom he could address in English. 
 
 Ordinaire after ordinaire came and went, and still no 
 progress could be reported to Louis. If Cominges, 
 having nothing to say, chose to say nothing, his master, 
 as little inclined to wait as ever, caused Lionne to 
 inquire for the reason. The reason was, the English 
 were in no hurry, and the Chancellor had the gout. 
 The Ambassador was, however, reminded that no ordi- 
 naire should go without a dispatch of some sort, so that 
 something, anything, might be read to Louis. Hence 
 the number of reports beginning with descriptions of a 
 quiet and stillness as different as possible of the Louis 
 Quatorze ideal. " Those great events by which the 
 face of nations is sometimes altered, which give speech 
 to the least eloquent and provide Ambassadors with 
 matter for their dispatches, are not the fruits of peace 
 nor of the idleness in which to all appearances this Court 
 lies buried. As it does not feel at present the spur of 
 any urgent affair outside the country, it takes interest 
 only into home things, forgetting that well watching 
 sentries allow the camp to sleep in peace. Nothing new 
 is to be seen, and scarcely does the sun, that is as old as 
 the world, allow its rays to be perceived here." 2 
 
 ^ " Vous saurez que Ton nomme deja par sobriquet le palais que 
 fait batir M. le Chancelier Hyde la nouvelle Dunkerque " 
 Cominges to Lionne, October 9, 1664. 
 
 2 To the King. December 3, 1663. 
 
LA GUERRE ET LA PALX. 129 
 
 The difficulties arising out of Clarendon's reserve were 
 increased by Cominges's punctiliousness, stiffness, and 
 sometimes ill-humour. This last defect had been 
 greatly increased by the way in which the climate had 
 acted upon his health. While the Chancellor had to shut 
 his doors to all on account of his gout, Cominges had to 
 keep home owing to fluxions, scurvy, and a variety of 
 other diseases : " Were there a kingdom to win, I must 
 to bed ; sleep will perhaps restore my faculties. I have 
 now a fluxion on the shoulder and chest. The climate 
 of this country does not suit me at all. ... I have 
 become nearly paralytic, and I suffer especially from a 
 disease called scurvy, which is very frequent here. All 
 my teeth shake ; they say it will be nothing, and that I 
 will only lose five or six this time. A pretty piece of 
 consolation, is it not } All considered, if I have more 
 than four attacks of this disease I shall go home without 
 one single tooth left." ^ He saw physicians, but with 
 little effect. He lacked one very necessary item, which 
 ought always to be mixed with remedies for them to be 
 of any use, namely, faith. He constantly derides them, 
 even certain baths which he had praised at first, but 
 which did nothing in the end but to " flatter sa 
 douleur." 
 
 Fever appears from time to time, with the result that 
 Cominges is once given up. Under this trial the soldier 
 remains true to himself; he causes his secretary to write 
 and send his best compliments to the King and Queen ; 
 for, to his deathbed, he continues attentive to etiquette, 
 and has the recommendation conveyed to his wife not to 
 come, for she would probably arrive too late, and suffer 
 ^ To Lionne. March 5 and 15, 1663 ; April 17, 1664. 
 
 9 
 
130 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 therefore unnecessary pain. Cominges, as many did in 
 his time, acted up to the recommendation of La Fon- 
 taine, who wanted men to go out of life " ainsi que d'un 
 banquet," with thanks and compliments to their host. 
 Cominges' secretary, Bruchet, explains in the same 
 letter i that, as for business, the Ambassador did not, on 
 account of impending death, abate one jot of his claims, 
 and that he was as stiff as ever. Far too stiff indeed, 
 for, unknown to him, his raideur was one difficulty 
 more on a road which was not of the easiest. 
 
 He was scarcely recovered and not yet out of danger, 
 when he was protesting of his intention to say his say 
 and keep the same tone to the last : " They are mightily 
 complaining of the dryness of my last memoir to the 
 King of England and to his Council. Well, if I die, 
 this will add little weight to my load ; and if I recover, 
 I shall know how to defend as well the manner as the 
 matter of my writing." 2 
 
 No wonder such an attitude could not please the easy- 
 going Charles, who hated to have trouble ; it greatly 
 helped Clarendon to protract business, imputing much to 
 " the capriciousness of [Cominges's] nature, which made 
 him hard to treat with and not always vacant at the 
 hours himself assigned, being hypochondriac and seldom 
 sleeping without opium." 3 Often and often Louis tried 
 to smooth the temper of his envoy, and with great 
 lightness of touch, using the most carefully selected 
 words, in order not to give offence, attempted to per- 
 
 ^ Bruchet to Lionne. March 30, 1665. 
 
 2 April 7, 1665. 
 
 3 "Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon . . . written by himself," 
 Basil, 1798, 5 vols., 8vo, vol. iii. p. 298 (year 1665). 
 
LA GUERRE ET LA FAIX. 131 
 
 suade him to negotiate " sans chaleur ni emportement." 
 Even while dying, Cominges persisted in his warmth. 
 
 In this as in many other things, Holies was his exact 
 counterpart in Paris, and wrote with great satisfaction 
 how he had snubbed the French King himself: " I was 
 yesterday at Colombe, to take my leave of the Queene, 
 who is gone allready towards Bourbon this very wett 
 morning. The King came thither, whilst I was there, 
 and at last gave me a little salute with his hand ; and 
 trewly, my lord, I answered him with such a one, 
 because I knew his Ambassadors in England are accue- 
 illies {sic) in an other manner." ^ The result had been 
 that Holies did not learn a word of what he wanted, but 
 that did not matter much in his eyes. Another result 
 was that both Charles and Louis began to think of using 
 other means to come to an understanding, and the great 
 influence of Madame, the outcome of which was only to 
 be felt later, began during those years. 
 
 A variety of minor questions were also the subject of 
 the official correspondence. Never forget, Louis had 
 written to Cominges, " that there is nothing in the 
 whole world that does not come under the cognizance 
 and fall within the sphere of an Ambassador." - Cominges 
 accordingly wrote about all sorts of political and com- 
 mercial subjects, and the range of his dispatches cover, 
 not only the whole of Europe, but Africa also, America, 
 the Indies, China, and Japan. News did not travel 
 then as it does now, and events were not known at the 
 same time all round the world ; they were always worth 
 
 ^ August 22, 1665. Lister's "Life and Administration of 
 Clarendon," London, 1838, 3 vols., 8vo, vol. iii. p. 392. 
 2 February 22, 1663. 
 
132 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 the mentioning, and there was little fear of double emploi. 
 Thus the Ambassador sends to his master the latest 
 particulars he has been able to collect concerning the 
 doings of the Grand Duke of Muscovy, the anxieties of 
 Venice by reason of Turkish conquests, the impending 
 siege of Vienna, the apostacy of a number of mission- 
 aries owing to the witchery and allurements of the fair 
 *' Japonaises," the arriving in the Downs of a ship from 
 Bantam " who has made the journey in one year : a 
 thing unparalleled till now." The name of the v^essel 
 which thus succeeded in beating all previous records is 
 unfortunately not given. ^ 
 
 Among the extraneous subjects which more constantly 
 reappear, a conspicuous place is allotted to the Algerine 
 and Tunisian corsairs. Weak as was his navy, Louis 
 did not lose sight of them ; he meant to be respected by 
 all, even by those infidels. He once describes with 
 delight, in a letter to Cominges, how his squadron has 
 run aground two corsair ships near La Goulette and has 
 burnt them. " The Turks in them to the number pf 
 six hundred jumped into the water ; the loss incurred 
 by them is not the main result of the encounter, but it 
 demonstrates that, contrary to what was believed, the 
 vessels of these corsairs are not so swift that it be an 
 impossibility for us to overreach them. A small 
 capture has also been made of twenty-six Turks, who 
 have been conveyed to my galleys at Toulon." 2 
 
 What steam now is for our navy, slaves were in those 
 times. They were the propelling power which allowed 
 
 1 To Lionnc. February 21, 1664. The ship brings news of the 
 burning of Manilla by Chinese pirates. 
 
 2 To Cominges. April 18, 1663. 
 
LA GUERRE ET LA FALX. 133 
 
 to ply against the wind. Louis was ever anxious to 
 better provide himself with such an indispensable com- 
 modity. " We hear," writes Lionne, " of the capture 
 of three thousand Moors [by the English at Tangiers]. 
 In case it were true, the King would greatly like you to 
 obtain from the King of England a gift of some part of 
 their number. If you fail, try at least to have them all 
 or most of them for money. Mind in any case that 
 they are not given to others." ^ The English Govern- 
 ment unfortunately turn out to want all their slaves. 
 The English will not even part with a number of convicts 
 which they had been asked kindly to sell. 2 Cominges 
 then bethinks himself of the Royal Company of the 
 Guinea coast, " the staple article of whose trade consists 
 in slaves." Their produce, however, is of doubtful 
 quality ; the men are tall and strong, but " so obstinate 
 that they often prefer to die rather than work. I will, 
 however, if you like, secure a hundred or so, as an 
 experiment." 3 He is allowed to try, but the price 
 happens to be enormous : "I have asked [the Syndic of 
 the company] for one hundred men between 27 and 2)S'> 
 sound in their body and complete in their limbs, to be 
 delivered up at Toulon. They want two hundred 
 crowns (ecus) for each. ... I do not think the bargain 
 an acceptable one, as you can find much better men at 
 Leghorn for one hundred ecus or four hundred francs." 4 
 While slaves were not purchased, and the treaty was 
 not signed, and the Portuguese were very scantily 
 
 ^ To Cominges. August 12, 1663. 
 
 ^ Batailler to the King. November 30, 1663. 
 
 3 To Lionne. October 18, 1663. 
 
 4 To the King. December 3, iG^-^'^Tz^ 
 
 / ^^-^ 
 
 UNlVEfi 
 
1 
 
 134 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 assisted, an event was preparing of a nature to 
 make even much more complicated the diplomatic game 
 that was being played. The same spirit of rivalry 
 which existed in England towards France on account of 
 the latter' s territorial power, was entertained towards 
 Holland as a naval nation. The British Kingdom and 
 the Dutch Republic were both eager to increase their 
 colonial possessions, their trade and their fleets. Spain 
 of course had still its immense colonies, but her conquer- 
 ing propensities were spent ; both east and west she had 
 come to a standstill. Not so Holland ; not so England ; 
 the two were building their colonial empire, watching very 
 jealously over each other, and afraid the best countries 
 yet to be occupied as colonies might fall to the lot of 
 the rival nation. Trading and military fleets con- 
 stantly crossed and recrossed each other at sea, and 
 strange reports were circulated and greedily accepted on 
 the Change at Amsterdam and London as to the wealth 
 brought home by the last convoy, and as to the ill doings, 
 malpractices, unjust occupations and barbarities of the 
 agents of the other State. Greed and hate were thus 
 kept well alive and ready for instant use ; they too, great 
 propelling powers. War would ensue some day ; Louis 
 knew it ; Cominges had left him no doubt as to this : 
 the Dutch are hated, he wrote, " on meurt d'envie de 
 les attaquer." ^ Louis made up his mind to prevent 
 hostilities, if that were possible : he did not want any of 
 the two to destroy the other and to remain the hence- 
 forth unopposed master of the sea. Cominges was in- 
 structed to speak and write and entreat accordingly ; 
 which he did as well as his scurvy, the Chancellor's 
 ^ To Lionne, February 28, 1664. Same to the King. 
 
LA GUERRE ET LA PAIX. 135 
 
 gout, Charles's dissipations, the Duke of York and the 
 people's wilfulness permitted. 
 
 War was becoming every day more threatening. ^ 
 While Cominges was discoursing and writing dispatches, 
 ships were building in the Thames, and the nation looked 
 with pride at the splendid fleets that were making 
 ready. It thought of the coming contest as of a sport: 
 there would be, of course, some important battles, but 
 they would be won ; besides this, most of the game 
 would consist in chasing the Dutch merchantmen ; 
 there would be a fine sport indeed, and spoils worth the 
 risks. " The Duke of York spends all his days and 
 part of his nights upon the river, seeing that his ships 
 are being armed and the stores filled. . . . The Duke 
 and his party act as if he were on the point of putting to 
 sea. On Saturday he ordered out of Chatham the 
 St. James ^ the best ship of England, bearing 80 pieces. 
 His upholsterer is furnishing his apartments there, and 
 his quartermaster marks the ' cabanes ' for the noblemen 
 who are to accompany him." 2 
 
 As for Charles himself, t he sportive side of the venture 
 pleases him very much, and he takes a particular delight 
 in paying, he too, visits to the dockyards. He indulges 
 in trips at sea, and when the weather is unpropitious, 
 he remains on board a little longer to see his courtiers 
 look pale. " Yesterday the King of England did me 
 the honour to take me with him to see the launching of 
 a vessel of 1,200 tons burden ; a finer and more mag- 
 
 ^ To the King, July 21, 1664. To Lionnc, July 28, 1664. 
 War will begin in Guinea and be continued in Europe. To Lionne, 
 September 15, 1664. 
 
 2 To Lionne. November 3, 1664. 
 
 \ 
 
136 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 nificent I never saw. While painters are busy em- 
 bellishing the outside and the rooms, masts are planted, 
 ropes and artillery provided. ... 
 
 " We saw there all the old generals and captains of 
 Cromwell, who are very loyal and full of confidence on 
 account of their last successes against the Dutch. The 
 King told me before them, that they all had had the 
 plague, but that they were quite sound now and less acces- 
 sible to the disease than others. I must confess, sire, that 
 nothing finer than all this navy can well be imagined ; 
 nothing grander and more impressive than this large 
 number of ships ready made or being built, this vast 
 quantity of guns, masts, ropes, planks and other things 
 used in this sort of warfare. The King had an excellent 
 meal served to us on one of his yachts ; he drank the 
 health of your Majesty and asked the company to 
 second him, and this was heartily done. I returned 
 thanks, and in your behalf I proposed the health of the 
 King of England. Both were honoured with so many 
 guns and so much noise that the weather changed. 
 
 " While we were thus carousing, the sea became rough 
 and completed what wine had begun. The Queen, who 
 was on the river with the ladies, escaped the sickness 
 but not the fear. All the rest were less lucky, as was 
 only too apparent. The squall being over, the sky 
 cleared, the ship was launched, and it was possible to 
 enjoy the sight without the inconvenience of the rain 
 and hail. The ceremony being finished, the Queen 
 went home with the coaches prepared for the King ; but 
 he, who was greatly amused at seeing the others dis- 
 composed, did not care to allow us to do the same. It 
 proved, however, an impossibility to use barges to return 
 
LA GUERRE ET LA FALX. 137 
 
 to town, and we had to hire coaches and carriages at 
 Greenwich to go back to Whitehall." ^ 
 
 Enchanted with this piece of wickedness, Charles did 
 not fail to begin again, and, fever or no fever, he would 
 have Cominges awakened before break of day and 
 invited to accompany him again on similar excursions : 
 " Last Monday, at five in the morning, the King of 
 England sent me a message to ask me to go with him to 
 Chatham to see six vessels, or rather six war machines, 
 the finest and largest to be seen at sea." The ship 
 meant for the Duke of York, not after all the St. James, 
 but the Charles, is a splendid piece of joinery ; it has 
 80 guns, two of which, lodged on the forecastle, are 
 culverins of prodigious length.^ 
 
 War has not been declared yet, but reprisals have 
 begun on both sides ; the game has been opened ; more 
 serious play will soon follow. The French mediation 
 has been a first time rejected ; 3 " the English are 
 intoxicated with their present state," 4 and with the state 
 of their navy; volunteers are being instructed — in the 
 summary fashion then considered sufficient : " Part of 
 the volunteers will leave [the Thames] on Monday 
 with the fleet [and go by sea to Portsmouth] to inure 
 themselves. The Dukes of Monmouth, Richmond, 
 Buckingham, Norfolk, and several other noblemen are 
 among them." 5 
 
 Disquieting news all this. Louis resolved to try 
 one last effort in order to have the peace preserved. 
 
 ^ To the King. November 6, 1664. 
 
 2 To the King. November 13, 1664. 
 
 3 English note of the i6th of October, 1664. 
 
 4 Ruvigny to Lionne. December 15, 1664. 
 
 5 To the King. November 16, 1664. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE. 
 
 I. Business. 
 
 IF one Ambassador had failed, perhaps three would 
 do better. Louis resolved to appoint " une celebre 
 ambassade extraordinaire " to represent him in Eng- 
 land ; and he gave his commission accordingly to a 
 member of his own house, Henri de Bourbon, Due de 
 Verneuil, an illegitimate son of Henry the Fourth ^ and 
 Henrietta de Balzac, Marquise de Verneuil ("I saw," 
 writes Evelyn in his Diary, " the Duke of Verneuille, 
 base-brother to the Queen-mother, a handsome old man 
 and a great hunter "), Honore Courtin, an intimate 
 friend of Lionne, chosen by the King because he would 
 have in England " a member of his council well versed 
 in judicial matters," 2 and then Cominges himself 
 
 The necessity for the presence of an Ambassador 
 with technical knowledge arose from the number of 
 captures made by the English, who, while they hated 
 
 ^ Born in 1601, legitimized 1603, endowed with the bishopric 
 of Metz 1608, which he kept, though not in holy orders, till 
 1652. He died at Verneuil in 1682. 
 
 ^ Instructions. April 4, 1665. 
 
 138 
 

LA CELEB RE AMBASSADE. 139 
 
 the Dutch, did not like much, as we know, the French, 
 and who constantly stopped French boats and seized 
 French goods. The object assigned to the efforts of 
 the three was the same as before, namely to forward 
 the preparation of the treaty of closer union, and to 
 prevent war between England and the Dutch Republic. 
 This last item was the more urgent. If war is not 
 averted, the English will probably have the better of it, 
 and if they have, Louis not unwisely remarks, *' it will 
 be very difficult to the other powers to deny to the 
 English that domination over the sea to which they 
 have always aspired. Of this empire they are now so 
 greedy, that it may be asserted that from this wish and 
 from their intention to secure to themselves the trade 
 of the whole world, arise all the difficulties and quarrels 
 they raise against the Dutch States." ^ 
 
 The three Ambassadors were recommended to pay a 
 particular attention to Parliament and to members of 
 the same, they being bent upon war, while Charles is 
 more quietly inclined, though not lacking personal 
 courage, " according to the testimony of Cromwell 
 himself." In their intercourse with deputies they must 
 show great tact, for members of Parliament are '' very 
 proud," and Ambassadors must avoid any appearance 
 of pressure or interference. They must meddle with 
 the country's affairs and not seem to be meddling, a very 
 delicate task. They are allowed to distribute freely 
 assurances and remonstrances, and promises of friend- 
 ship, goodwill and eternal amity. 
 
 Loaded with as much coin of this sort as could be 
 included in instructions of a remarkable length, Courtin 
 ' Instructions to the three Ambassadors. April 4, 1665. 
 
I40 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 and Verneuil left Paris with all speed to join Cominges, 
 not being allowed to wait for their equipage. They 
 found at Calais *' two very fine yachts, gilt all over, 
 as well inside as outside. The rooms are wondrous 
 neat, with carpets and velvet beds." They belonged to 
 the Queen and King of England, who had sent them 
 to honour their uncle Verneuil. 
 
 At Dover horses and footmen and royal carriages 
 were in the same manner provided. On their way to 
 the capital, " many people, at Dover, Canterbury, 
 Rochester, kept inquiring from persons of our own suite 
 why we were going to London ; and being informed 
 that we meant to secure peace between England and 
 Holland, they without hesitation answered : If they 
 come for nothing else, they might as well go back." i 
 They continued none the less their journey, reached 
 London on the i6th of April, 1665, and saw on the 
 same day the King, who was " en un lieu nomme Chine " 
 (Sheen). They are very well received, and " Milord 
 Fichardin " (Fitzhardin) is particularly amiable. 
 
 They at once set to work, and at once discover 
 that what had proved too much for Cominges alone 
 would not be more easy for the three to obtain. The 
 new-comers might be more supple or eloquent or 
 persuasive ; but to persuade Charles was nothing ; the 
 nation it was, now as before, that had to be persuaded, 
 and the nation was entirely beyond their reach. 
 Exactly a week after his arrival Courtin was already 
 writing to Lionne that there was nothing to hope ; the 
 King wants peace, but Parliament wants war ; and 
 
 I The Three to the King. April 20, 1665. 
 
LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE. 141 
 
 Parliament being the stronger party, war must be con- 
 sidered inevitable. • 
 
 The three, none the less, began strenuously to fulfil 
 their instructions ; they proposed a delay of two months 
 before the fleets were allowed to weigh anchor, and they 
 offered their mediation. But the English answers were 
 long in coming, and when they came they were found to 
 be dilatory. One day the Chancellor has his usual and 
 opportune gout ; another day the audience is postponed 
 " on account of the Sunday, for which they have here 
 the greatest egards!' ^ Courtin had long private con- 
 versations with Charles : he was in fact the real 
 Ambassador all the while ; the King delighted in his 
 talk, and found him a charmeur. " Short, with a 
 beauish face and a somewhat ridiculous figure, Courtin 
 was full of wit, good sense, judgment, maturity and 
 grace. . . . He pleased everybody everywhere." So 
 wrote St. Simon,2 no easy man to please. 
 
 Charles would allow him to plead for hours, and 
 fully to develop the assurances and remonstrances in his 
 instructions ; he would be delighted at his Excellency's 
 reasonings, ready wit, and clever retorts, but even he 
 would not allow himself to be persuaded, because that 
 was an impossibility ; because Parliament was there, and 
 the country too. '' * My fleet, Sir, is out of harbour 
 even now, and I cannot call it back with honour, and 
 then you must remember my people are in a rage 
 against the Dutch.' " 3 To this last reason, Courtin was 
 not slow to perceive, agreeing in this with Cominges,. 
 
 ^ The Three to the King. April 20, 1665. 
 
 2 " Memoires," dc Boislile's ed., vol. iii. p. 280. 
 
 3 The Three to the King. April 23, 1665. 
 
142 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 that there was no answer. " There is this difference 
 between him [i.^., Charles II.] and the King our 
 master, that his Majesty can order his subjects to go as 
 he pleases, but the King of England is bound to follow 
 his." I 
 
 Another difficulty came from the stubbornness of the 
 Dutch. In the year 1662, Louis, foreseeing that the 
 union with England would be very difficult to conclude, 
 and unwilling to let one of the two great naval powers 
 of the world to be utterly ruined by the other, had 
 signed a treaty of alliance with Holland.^ This con- 
 vention he thought would not prevent his arranging 
 a treaty with England ; but, on the contrary, give more 
 weight to his proposals, the refusal of which would 
 entail, not the status quo^ but declared hostility. The 
 Dutch treaty in the meanwhile had kept all its force, 
 and the English one was yet in nubibus ; Louis was 
 bound to help the States, and depending upon this they 
 were the more aggressive, and proved scarcely less 
 difficult to quiet than the English. The three 
 Ambassadors did their best to win Van Gogh, the 
 Envoy of the Republic, to their pacific programme ; 
 for, though acts of hostility were of daily occurrence, 
 diplomatic relations had not yet been broken. To the 
 appeals made to him. Van Gogh used to answer — 
 
 " ' Ah, sir, it is a very difficult thing you are asking ! 
 All I can say is our people are not more easy to govern 
 than the English, and they would never approve of our 
 
 ^ Courtin to Lionne. April, 1665. 
 
 2 Treaty of Paris, April 22, 1662. In case one of the two 
 were attacked, the other was to declare war against the aggressor 
 within four months. 
 
LA CELEB RE AMBASSADE. 143 
 
 making larger concessions than we have offered . . . 
 We are unjustly attacked ; I have been an homme 
 d^armes (he used those very terms), and I will well know 
 how to die with the others ? * . . . We allowed him 
 time to recover from this furious fit, which had been 
 caused either by the excellence of his zeal, or maybe 
 by a very long sword which was dangling at his side." ^ 
 
 While the Ambassadors do their best to hurry on an 
 understanding, the King of England and his Ministers 
 formalize as much as they can. We are in May ; 
 nothing has been done ; the warlike preparations con- 
 tinue, and at the very time when a naval battle is daily 
 expected, Charles and Clarendon put forth the un- 
 expected demand to have the negotiations carried on in 
 writing : ** ' Since I have come back to my kingdom, 
 (says Charles) I have nearly forgotten the French 
 language, and in truth the trouble I have in looking 
 for my words allows the escape of my thoughts. 
 I must needs have delay in order to be able to reflect 
 and meditate upon things proposed to me in that 
 language . . .' " All this ignorance and lightness of 
 thought the French Ambassadors politely deny. 
 
 " He added that his commissaries did not understand 
 French. I retorted that many in his council spoke 
 French as well as we did, and that we would use Latin 
 if these gentlemen liked. 
 
 '' *No, no, no,' said he, ' I assure you they will not 
 desist, and they want to negotiate in writing.* 
 
 " ' This, Sire, I am very sorry we cannot do.' 
 
 " As we had come to this, the door was thrown open, 
 and the Queen-mother, who was retiring, passed us, 
 ^ The Three to the King. May 11, 1665. 
 
144 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 saying : ' Dieu vous benisse ' ; as showing the wish she had 
 we might come to an understanding. The Earl of St. 
 Albans showed himself at the aperture, and the King 
 nodded to him, saying : ' Do come here ; here is a little 
 man I cannot convince or silence.' " 
 
 The King hereupon begins to talk English to 
 St. Albans, the outcome of which conversation is that, 
 as his ultima ratio., Charles puts forth the plea that it is 
 supper time, and he therefore hurries away not to have 
 his Castlemaine wait.^ 
 
 At the Castlemaine's the secret affairs of the State 
 are freely discussed, and France is loudly denounced. 
 Lauderdale is especially warm in his attacks ; not he 
 alone, however, " for the conclusion of his speech is on 
 the lips of all Englishmen. You have only to go to 
 the Exchange to hear it repeated every morning. For 
 in this country everybody thinks it his right to speak 
 of the affairs of State, and the very boatmen want the 
 mylords to talk to them about such topics while they 
 row them to Parliament." - In this noticeable remark 
 the three forestalled, for many years, Montesquieu's 
 well-known observation concerning the London tilers, 
 who were espied by him reading the Gazette while they 
 were at work on the roofs, so intent and so widely 
 spread was the passion for politics in England. 
 
 Days and weeks and months pass. The fine fleet 
 which Cominges had seen building is cruising in the 
 North Sea, under command of the Duke of York ; the 
 Dutch fleet is also at sea under the orders of Obdam. 
 A battle is imminent. One day of June while Cominges 
 
 ^ The Three to the King. May 24, 1665. 
 2 The Three to Lionne. June i, 1665. 
 
LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE, 145 
 
 and Court! n were taking their walk in the park of 
 *' St. Jemme," reports of guns are heard ; a rumour 
 comes that the Dutch fly ; ^ the Ambassadors must wait, 
 however, to know the truth for sure, till they can see the 
 King, " who speaks always sincerely." They meet him 
 at his palace, and hear that seventeen Dutch men-of-war 
 have been taken, and nine burnt or sunk. The English 
 have lost the Earls of *' Falmuth, Portlan, and Mal- 
 borout," besides " M. de Mousseri, Irlandois." 2 The 
 hostile fleet has been scattered to the winds and the 
 waters ; maybe they will congregate again. 
 
 " M. de Witt," Courtin observes with strange fore- 
 sight, " has such a strong will as to want another battle. 
 He will perhaps be torn to pieces by his own people." 3 
 The bloody tragedy foreshadowed in this last sentence 
 was, however, to be delayed till Saturday, 20th of August, 
 1672, when the Grand Pensionary was massacred by his 
 compatriots, and a finger torn from his body ** sold for 
 two sous and a pot of beer.*' 4 
 
 Great were the rejoicings in London at the news of 
 the victory of the Duke of York off the Suffolk coast, 
 the blowing up of Obdam's ship, and the flight of the 
 Dutch. Bonfires were lighted in the streets. Owing 
 to their capacity as mediators, the French Envoys con- 
 sidered they had to abstain from taking part in them, 
 which angered the mob very much ; they were ac- 
 cordingly hooted each in turn, and their windows 
 
 ^Courtin to Lionne. June 15, 1665. 
 
 2 The Three to the King. June 18, 1665. 
 
 3 To Lionne. June 22, 1665. 
 
 4 A. Lefcvre Pontalis, "Jean de Witt," Paris, 1884, 2 vols., 8vo., 
 vol. ii. p. 537. 
 
 10 
 
146 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 broken. But while any breach of etiquette by officials 
 was resented to the extent, as we have seen, of bringing 
 nations to the verge of war, the doings of mobs were, 
 not unwisely, esteemed as of little import. Cominges had 
 taken almost no notice of a former emeute before his 
 house. The emeute had been caused by a servant 
 belonging to the Exeter family knocking a shop boy 
 on the head with his sword. The mob assembled ; the 
 servant withdrew into the Ambassadorial courtyard, 
 where he was covered by the diplomatic immunity. 
 Cominges's men helped the fellow to escape by a side 
 door, while the rabble clamoured for him to be surren- 
 dered ; when they heard he had fled they broke 
 Cominges's windows. " The noise reached me when 
 I had already ordered my coach, meaning to go out. 
 I walked at once towards the mob, which allowed me to 
 pass ; I ordered all my men to withdraw, and caused the 
 door to be shut ; I had then my drive in the town as 
 I had resolved, with only one gentleman and a page. 
 So the rabble dispersed, the asylum was not violated, 
 and my person was not insulted." ^ 
 
 *' I am very glad," Louis answered, " you could 
 put an end to that fray without more trouble . . . 
 Incidents of this kind are such that no human wisdom 
 can foresee them. I greatly approve your presenting 
 yourself to the mob (thanks to which the tumult was 
 quieted) and your driving with one gentleman and 
 a page as you had resolved before." ^ 
 
 1 To the King. March 15, 1663. 
 
 2 March 25, 1663. D'Estrades too (letter to Brienne the 
 younger, October 6, 1661) had had the excitement of similar 
 encounters. A Swedish baron pursued by the police having taken 
 
LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE, 147 
 
 It is strange to compare the tone of the dispatches 
 concerning the Watteville affair and the letters in which 
 the Ambassadors report such frays as the above, or, 
 again, give an account of the siege laid to their houses 
 on the occasion of the victory. 
 
 The first part of the night had been spent very 
 gaily but quietly : " At the moment I am writing, 
 Monseigneur, that is, about eleven of the night," says 
 Secretary Bigorre, " I hear on all sides the shouts of the 
 people who flock in large numbers round the bonfires 
 in the streets. Coming home from Messrs. de Cominges 
 and Courtin, to whom I had brought dispatches for 
 them to sign, I saw a number of fires which were being 
 prepared. At the door of wealthy persons there was no 
 less than a full cartload of wood for each single fire ; 
 those who lack wood burn their old chairs and old 
 chests. ... A standard taken from the Dutch has been 
 placed on the top of the Tower ; the Westminster bells 
 have been ringing as a sign of rejoicing." ^ 
 
 Later in the night things altered : "It was one after 
 midnight, that is to say a time when the rabble had drunk 
 abundantly," when the absence of bonfires at the doors 
 of the French Ambassadors, " whose houses were in the 
 middle of the town," was noticed by the mob. The 
 rabble insisted upon fires being lighted, and obtaining 
 none they showed their displeasure, as usual, by breaking 
 the windows. " My tale will be short," writes Courtin 
 
 shelter in the house of d'Estrades at Chelsea, while he himself was 
 away hunting, a fight took place between the police force and the 
 servants of the Embassy, eight of these being wounded, while 
 two of the mob were killed. 
 
 ^ Bigorre to Lionne, June 18, 1665. 
 
148 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 to Lionne. "I have had a dozen glass panes broken in 
 the room occupied by your son. M. de Cominges has 
 been less lucky, and if we had not kept our temper well 
 you would have heard of a fine grilling of Ambassadors, 
 for the streets were full of ready burning coals." i 
 
 " If I were not afraid of Fame," writes on his part 
 classical Cominges, '* of Fame that is wont to magnify 
 things, I would not even mention what has taken place . 
 But you will know, sir, and 1 hope forget a minute 
 after, that, in order that nothing should be done contrary 
 to our quality and obligations as mediators, I ordered my 
 people not to light fires before my door, but to give 
 wood to my neighbours if they wanted any to increase 
 their own fires. Whether the thing passed unobserved 
 at first, or that the fumes of the wine had not yet turned 
 their heads, certain it is that I remained untroubled 
 till midnight. But shortly after, it seemed proper to a 
 multitude of roughs, who evidently considered that they 
 had no better way of showing their patriotism and their 
 hatred towards France, to shower on my house first exe- 
 crations of the usual type, then stones in such a number 
 that I had to leave my bedroom to avoid being wounded 
 in so fine an encounter. My people, brave as chained 
 lions, were moved by so much insolence ; they instantly 
 armed themselves each according to his profession : spits 
 stood at the vanguard, pistols and muskets composed 
 the main body of the troops. Things having come to 
 this, I thought it advisable to cool so much military 
 ardour. I addressed them in a speech returning thanks, 
 and I ordered my army to withdraw. . . . 
 
 " The foes, availing themselves of my prudence, which 
 ^ June 22, 1665. 
 
LA CELEB RE AMBASSADE. 149 
 
 they interpreted as weakness, marked all the entrances to 
 my house with a number of white crosses and inscrip- 
 tions meaning, ' May the pity and misericord of God be 
 on this poor house,* as if the plague were in it, and its 
 inhabitants had been destroyed. They withdrew then in 
 their turn with much hooting." ^ 
 
 With a nation thus disposed, little could be hoped from 
 a negotiation, and the abundant stores of fine phrases 
 and assurances with which the instructions provided the 
 Ambassadors would be of little avail. Courtin, a shrewd, 
 practical man, for all his jollity, could not help sneering 
 at those treasures : a much more effectual argument 
 would have been a public declaration that Louis would, 
 according to the Treaty of 1662, help the Dutch with 
 his troops and money ; and even this, Courtin thought, 
 would be barely sufficient to quiet now the passions of 
 the people. As for the fine talk with which the 
 Ambassadors were expected by the men at home to 
 alter the bend and will of a great nation, he takes the 
 liberty to write plainly to Lionne : 
 
 " So long as I see that we and M. Van Gogh are 
 possessed of nothing better than certain common 
 places fi-om which to draw fine words to persuade the 
 King of England — to whom we have by order delivered 
 three or four times over the same compliment — I will 
 believe that you laugh in your sleeve when for your 
 sins and out of sheer courtesy you feel bound to write 
 to us. You will allow me to say in justice to you, that 
 you are far too enlightened not to know as well as I 
 do that the King of England, were he accessible to 
 all the fine things you have so delicately moulded in our 
 ^ To Lionne. June 22, 1665. 
 
I50 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 instructions, and in two or three other dispatches, would 
 be quite unable to follow the promptings of his heart, 
 dependent as he is upon his Parliament and his people. 
 We must therefore examine whether testimonies of 
 tenderness on the part of our master, his prayers, and 
 our instant recommendations, can make some impression 
 on the Parliament of England and on the inhabitants ot 
 London : that you will not readily believe." ^ Charles 
 " can nothing except when he wills what his subjects 
 want." 2 Courtin is sorry to be only thirty-eight ; if 
 he had the authority which age gives he would quietly 
 go beyond his instructions. " I would take resolutions 
 and act upon them, and let you know only afterwards." 
 Even in those pre -telegraphic times, Ambassadors, as 
 we see, felt not a little the impediment of too strict 
 instructions. As things stand, and as the task is hope- 
 less, Courtin resolves at least to make the best of his 
 stay among the English, and if he cannot be useful he 
 means at least not to be bored, and he will mix more 
 and more with the gay world. " As soon as I have done 
 with my cough, I will live as Ministers of State do in 
 this country, and, to begin, I have this very morning 
 named to the King of England the person who has 
 touched my heart ; he has already come to my help and 
 interposed his good offices in my favour. "3 
 
 II. Amusements. 
 
 The amusements of the English Court were famous 
 all over Europe, and the additional Ambassadors sent 
 
 ^ June 29, 1665. ^ July 6, 1665. 
 
 3 To Lionne. June 8, 1665. 
 
LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE. 151 
 
 to reinforce Cominges did not fail to turn the occa- 
 sion to account. They soon became acquainted with 
 the Stewart, the Castlemaine, and the other ladies 
 who played a part at Court, with the former especi- 
 ally, whose favour was in the ascendant, and who 
 was not averse to France. They report with pleasure 
 that the Castlemaine who favours Spain is running 
 great risks : " She has refused to sleep at Hampton 
 Court under pretence that her apartments are not 
 ready. His Britannic Majesty supped yesterday with 
 Mile. Stewart at Milord Arlington's, who had his 
 mistress with him. A Madame Scrope she is, first 
 lady of the chamber to the Queen, and a woman 
 not to content herself with a mere Secretary of State. 
 For you must know, sir, that ladies are not to be 
 won by fine dispatches, such as you draw every day. 
 . . . But to come back, Madame de Castlemaine 
 runs great risks, and if her anger lasts she may well 
 lose the finest rose on her hat. This comparison is 
 allowable in a country where all women wear such." ^ 
 
 Hostile as they were bound to be towards Spain, the 
 three, none the less, entertained agreeable relations with 
 the Ambassador of his Catholic Majesty, Count de 
 Molina. They dined at his house, where a famous 
 cook prepared extraordinary Spanish dainties. " The 
 cheer is excellent, but Spanish fashion ; ollas make the 
 first course, fruit the second, and roast the third. He 
 has a butler who knows how to make a liquid blanc- 
 mange that is greatly esteemed, and is drunk as 
 lemonade." 2 
 
 ^ Courtin to Lionnc. July 16, 1665. 
 2 Bigorre to Lionne. July 6, 1665. 
 
152 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 In such festivities, whether challenged by Monk or 
 not, our Ambassadors were in danger of losing their 
 heads somewhat. Drinking was a sport, and the first 
 of sports. A good drinker was held in as high esteem 
 as a good player at any fashionable game is held now : 
 " Pray excuse my style," Courtin quietly says, '' I have 
 been writing all the night, and I drank more than I 
 ought." ^ Servants not unnaturally followed the ex- 
 ample of their masters, and as they had not the 
 drinking capacities of " the General " some little incon- 
 veniences sometimes ensued. The same Molina gives 
 a supper one Monday " to Madame de Castlemaine and 
 to a number of Englishmen and ladies. There was a 
 great feast. But his servants having allowed too much 
 liquor to the coachmen and lackeys, they happened to 
 be all drunk when there was a question of going. Their 
 masters and mistresses having noticed it, would not be 
 driven by men in that state, and borrowed from the 
 Spanish Ambassador his own coachmen and postilions. 
 But as some little capacity to understand was left to a 
 few of the others, they became aware of the slight put 
 upon them. They stood up to prevent it, and a free 
 fight ensued with the servants of M. de Molina. This 
 created the greatest and most amusing disturbance 
 imaginable." - 
 
 Being famous for its elegance and its gaiety, the 
 English Court was then a place of resort for fashion- 
 able people of all countries. They were very well 
 received there, were they men or women, Gramonts or 
 Duchesses Mazarin. Lionne, who felt his eldest son 
 
 ^ Courtin to Lionne. May 24, 1665. 
 ^ Bigorre to Lionne. July 9, 1665. 
 
SJ&imien^^^^ 
 
 rW2imJ^tHr,nm^ 
 
 MISS JENNINGS 
 From the picture by Verelst formerly at Ditton Park 
 
LA cALEBRE AMBASSADE. 153 
 
 was lacking in some of that varnish the recipe for which 
 Chesterfield was to lay down in later years, accepted 
 Courtin's offer, and allowed young " Marquis de Berni " 
 to follow the Ambassador to England. The Marquis 
 was then only nineteen ; he was still very gauche and 
 slow. London was, not without reason, considered the 
 place where he would lose his shyness. He was there- 
 fore permitted to stay there, very much in the same 
 manner as Chesterfield wanted his son in the next 
 century to live in France, in order to see the world, to 
 improve his conversation, and to rub off his timidity. 
 Very curious it is to see with what sort of fatherly care 
 Courtin and Cominges watched the young man's suc- 
 cesses. Their letters on the subject read very much 
 like Chesterfield's ; the difference of time and place is 
 scarcely perceptible : so true to itself from the beginning 
 to the end was the worldly wisdom of " I'ancien 
 regime." 
 
 '' Your son," Courtin writes, " begins as honest men 
 do ; he is a little abashed ; but we have given him 
 courage, and Mr. d'Irval p] has so well seconded him 
 that he has at length " — he had been a month in 
 London — *' made his declaration. It has been very 
 well received by one of the finest girls in England : 
 Mile. Genins (Jennings), of the household of the 
 Duchess of York. She is small, but with a fine figure, 
 a splendid complexion, the hair such as you remember 
 Madame de Longueville's was, brilliant keen eyes, the 
 whitest and smoothest skin I ever saw. The Duchess, 
 who is generally severe on such things, finds the two so 
 well suited that she is the first to favour them. The 
 Queen-mother, the King, all the Court, act accordingly. 
 
154 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 People laugh, but I assure you the thing goes on well, 
 and you must feel no anxiety about it ; for you may 
 readily believe that I would put, as the word is, les holas, 
 if I saw our cavalier go beyond what he should. But 
 his intrigue is exactly at the point where it must be, to 
 make him a man of the world (honnete homme), and I 
 will let you know how it progresses." i 
 
 It progresses very well ; young Lionne arranges to 
 see his lady every day ; he sends her strawberries every 
 evening ; he wants, for good reasons, to follow the 
 Duchess of York wherever she goes ; and Courtin has 
 soon to moderate him.^ He tries to turn him to 
 sterner duties, viz., the drawing of dispatches, the 
 scheme for which is supplied to him. One such, the 
 object of which is to inform d'Estrades at the Hague of 
 all that goes on, is several times alluded to ; several 
 times, because it is never finished. M. le Marquis has 
 been ordered to do it ; he will do it, this day, or rather 
 to-morrow ; it is not quite finished yet ; he will work at 
 it again by and by : so Ambassadors write from day to 
 day. D'Estrades luckily had other sources of informa- 
 tion. " I tell him all the truths I find necessary for 
 him to know ; and I am not content with treating with 
 him all the questions which seem to me of greater 
 import, but I ask M. de Cominges to help riie. We have 
 sometimes to contend with his timidity, and sometimes 
 with his presumption ; very often with his sloth, but 
 above all with his vanity, which is fed by all the 
 
 ^ May 24, 1665. 
 
 2 The young man has also to be moderated in another way. 
 Cominges draws a mournful picture of Berni's sickness after he 
 had eaten too much cream. April 23, 1665. 
 
LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE. 155 
 
 honours paid to him. I think you would do well to 
 destine him to the robe (to a judicial career). He will 
 then stay among people who, having no ambition to 
 rise at Court, will live with him in greater familiarity, 
 and will remove from his mind what comes into it by 
 reason of honours rendered to him and meant for you." ^ 
 
 Cominges, on his side, notices that since he is in love 
 with Miss Jennings he displays " more ease in his con- 
 versation, a greater care of his person, less shyness in 
 society. I hope that this voyage will have improved 
 him, and that you will find changes which will please 
 you. You are, it is true, a severe judge, and you 
 expect perfection in an age when reason scarcely begins^ 
 to bud." 
 
 As a sign that the teaching imparted to him was not 
 thrown away, young Lionne, to the great admiration of 
 his mentors, began to pretend he was not in love with 
 Miss Jennings only, and to act accordingly. Quite 
 Chesterfieldian is Courtin's letter on this youthful feat ; 
 the respective merits of youth and age are there 
 compared as follows : " Your son has become faithless. 
 The King of England has discovered it. The 
 truth is he felt the point of what we said, and would 
 not be suspected of being such a man as to overstep 
 bounds. On this score, therefore, there is nothing to 
 fear. The pity is that he pretends he can love only 
 young ladies ; people of his age must, however, be in- 
 structed by old ones, who cure them of the bashfulness 
 which makes them mute and prevents them from daring 
 anything." - 
 
 ^ Courtin to Lionne. May 28, 1665. 
 2 Courtin to Lionne. June 8, 1665. 
 
156 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 " Women of fashion," writes Chesterfield — " I do 
 not mean absolutely unblemished — are a necessary in- 
 gredient in the composition of good society. ... In 
 company every woman . . . must be addressed with 
 respect ; nay, more, with flattery, and you need not fear 
 to make it too strong. Such flattery is not mean on your 
 part nor pernicious to them, for it can never give them 
 a greater opinion of their beauty or their sense than 
 they had before. Do not forget to pay your court to 
 the older ones, for if you do they never forgive it ; and 
 I could suppose cases in which you could desire their 
 friendship, or at least their neutrality." ^ 
 
 Thus wrote, in the eighteenth century, godfathers to 
 godsons, godson being in this case '* astatis suae," ten. 
 
 A truer truth than Courtins statement above is 
 disclosed in a later dispatch in which the Ambassador 
 confesses that the sham love-making of young Lionne 
 to " Mistris Bointon " (the Boynton of Gramont's 
 Memoirs, who had fainting-fits and was loved by 
 Talbot) had for its cause a refusal of Miss Jennings 
 (loved also by Talbot) to have her hands kissed. 2 The 
 Boynton stratagem succeeds very well, and fetite Genins 
 has to surrender her hands. In fact the young Marquis 
 de Berni remained faithful to the last — to the last of 
 the three months he spent in England. With all his 
 defects, he seems to have pleased everybody about him ; 
 *' He will be greatly regretted at this Court, being, as he 
 . is, appreciated by the King and the Queens, and dearly 
 Joved by the prettiest young lady in England." 3 Do 
 
 ^ Oxford, 1890, p. 116. 
 
 2 Courtin to Lionne. August 23, 1665. 
 
 3 The Three to Lionne. July 2, 1665. 
 
LA CAlEBRE AMBASSADE. 157 
 
 not, added Courtin, *' give him up on account of his 
 youthful faults. If I spend the winter in Paris, I mean 
 to unfreeze you two, and breed such close familiarity 
 between you that you will take as much pleasure in 
 teaching him as he will in being taught." ^ 
 
 One last letter on the subject of the young Marquis 
 gives a curious side-light on the character and morals of 
 the father, and very strange it seems at the present day 
 that Lionne could leave such letters behind him to be 
 preserved and bound at the French Foreign Office with 
 the official correspondence concerning peace and war and 
 treaties. 
 
 The Court has retired to Kingston ; the Marquis de 
 Berni has been recalled to Paris, but he is remembered 
 at Court : *' Thursday evening, the King of England 
 teased very much in my presence Mrs. * Genins ' on the 
 subject of your son ; the young girl reddened ; she 
 never appeared more beautiful. His Majesty told me 
 that your son had asked M. Porter to let him know 
 how she looked on the day he was gone ; and at the 
 same time his Majesty assured me that he had never 
 seen such a picture of sadness and desolation as the 
 young gallant offered when on board the yacht of the 
 Queen-mother. He was right, I can tell you, for the 
 young lady loved him dearly, and if the one who 
 reduced you to the taking of certain waters flavouring 
 of turpentine had been as beautiful, your stomach would 
 not have been easily restored to health.. But I have 
 what will give it a new vigour, and I wait only till 
 Persod," the King's messenger, " comes back, to send to 
 you two cakes of chocolate with which I have been 
 ^ July 9, 1665. 
 
158 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 presented by the Spanish Ambassador." i This chocolate 
 is the best in the world, so good indeed that it 
 puts to shame by comparison even '' the one the 
 recipe for which Madame de Lionne brought from 
 Madrid." ^ 
 
 Lionne thereupon writes to have more particulars, 
 not about Miss Jennings at all, but about this curious 
 dainty, chocolate. How is it to be prepared ^ Lionne 
 seems to have laboured under the delusion that eggs 
 ought to be mixed with it. Courtin answers : "I 
 am not quite sure as to the way it ought to be 
 managed ; I think, however, I have heard it said that 
 eggs were not to be added." The true recipe is then 
 secured from his Spanish Excellency, and dictated by 
 Courtin to Secretary Bigorre for the benefit of Louis's 
 Minister : "I have written under dictation the follow- 
 ing lines, without either adding or omitting a word : 
 * You must first have the water to boil, and then 
 mix it with the chocolate and sugar, and not place 
 it again on the fire.' " 3 The same recipe, " without 
 addition or omission," is to be read to this day on the 
 boxes of all the varieties of our cocoas and cocoatinas. 
 
 III. The fogs and f I ague. 
 
 While the Ambassadors were talking chocolate, a 
 change had come over the capital ; signs of mourning 
 
 - July 27, 1665. 
 
 2 July 16, 1665. Madame de Lionne (Paule Payen) was " une 
 femme de beaucoup d'esprit, de hauteur, de magnificence et de 
 depense. Elle avait tout mange et vivait dans la derniere 
 indigence et la meme hauteur" (St. Simon). 
 
 3 Bigorre to Licnne. July 30, 1665. 
 
LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE. 159 
 
 were to be seen everywhere ; the plague had made its 
 appearance. " The plague besieges us on all sides," 
 writes Courtin in June, " and if nothing happens the Court 
 will leave town as soon as the Queen-mother is gone. 
 M. de Verneuil intends to keep very few people with 
 him, and to send back the others to France. Tell me 
 what I should do. I have forty persons with me, and I 
 dare not leave any in London on account of the 
 increasing pestilence." ^ 
 
 Great was the bustle and trouble in all the Embassies, 
 provided then with an army of servants and an immense 
 quantity of horses, carriages, and impediments of all 
 sorts. The three French envoys were the more dis- 
 pleased at this ill-timed occurrence, as they had already 
 suffered from the English climate, and were in a weak 
 state. The fog-complaint is not a recent one ; it was 
 then as strong as it is now ; it dates back in fact — an 
 ominous fact — from the time of Pytheas : in the few 
 lines preserved of this earliest traveller to Britain 
 mention is made of the remarkable fogs of the country. 
 They cannot be said to have become since unworthy 
 of their fame, and Pytheas's testimony is there to show 
 that it rests on a more solid basis than the smoke of the 
 sea-coal. They are, in fact, a national thing, inherent 
 to the soil, adscript i gleb^^ and not to be removed by 
 acts of Parliament. Parliament tried, however, being, 
 according to the best authorities, according to Cominges 
 himself, "all-powerful." Yesterday's attempts are not 
 the first ; means were devised even in Stuart times to 
 
 ^ To Lionne. June- 18, 1665. So early as the 17th of March, 
 1664, Cominges had written to Lionne: "II s'est trouve deux 
 maisons infectees de la peste dans Londres." 
 
i6o A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 devise some abatement. Evelyn was one of those 
 reformers, and he notes in his Diary that he had an 
 important conversation with Charles the Second on the 
 subject. The King *' was pleased to discourse to me 
 about my book inveighing against the smoke of London, 
 and proposing expedients how, by reforming those 
 particulars I mentioned, it might be reformed ; com- 
 manding me to prepare a bill against the next session of 
 Parliament, being, as he said, resolved to have something 
 done in it." ^ The book was called " Fumifugium," 
 but it does not seem to have attained the object its 
 title implied. It was printed with a dedication to His 
 Majesty, and published " by his special commands." 
 Both the King and diarist forgot when so doing the 
 hope-forbidding testimony of Pytheas. 
 
 In the meantime, Ambassadors coughed, sneezed and 
 nearly died. Cominges, we saw, had been once given 
 up, and remained an invalid, or nearly so. Courtin had 
 no sooner settled in London than he was seized with a 
 bad cough ; he is loud in his complaints against the 
 fumes and smoke of the town and the " vapeurs du 
 charbon de terre." - He gives an appalling account of 
 the effect of the climate on the members of "la celebre 
 ambassade." He writes to Lionne : " When there will be 
 a question of again filling the post of Ambassador to 
 England, the King will do well to cast his eyes on some 
 broad-shouldered person. For M. de Verneuil is in a 
 very sorry state ; M. de Cominges has a chronic rheum 
 which will follow him to his grave or till he goes back 
 to France ; and as for me, who have not a strong chest, 
 
 1 Under date September 13, and October i, 1661. 
 
 2 To Lionne. June 11, 1665. 
 

LE DUG DE VERNEUIL 
 
 Ambassador to England 1665 
 
 From the engraving by Michel Lasne 
 "Ad vivum, 1661 " 
 
LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE. i6i 
 
 I have lost my voice these four or five days ; I feel a fire 
 in my stomach and a pain in my side ; I am becoming 
 nervous." ^ 
 
 The state of the old Duke de Verneuil was even 
 more to be pitied. The change in his habits, and in his 
 usual surroundings, and the rigour of the climate were too 
 much for him ; he fell all at once into a melancholy, 
 and no sooner arrived than he wanted to go back. 
 Instead of cheering him, his men made him worse, and 
 showed a sorrier face than even his : *' They have the 
 look of men that are to be marched to the scaffold, and 
 whenever I call they ask me when it is we go." ^ 
 Something must be done, else he will die ; he must be 
 allowed to return. Courtin keeps in better spirits 
 though rather affected. " I have made it a point,'' he 
 says, '' not to die in London, and I do not mean to 
 follow the example of poor M. de Verneuil, whose mind 
 is more broken than his body. We do all we can, M. 
 de Cominges and myself, to strengthen him, and we are 
 right, for we shall never be associated with a more 
 easy-going colleague. But our eloquence is now all 
 spent, and if you do not send us some of those noble 
 lords (grands seigneurs), who pace for eight or nine 
 hours each day the courtyard of the old castle at St. 
 Germains, French travellers will be one day shown the 
 tomb of M. de Verneuil in Westminster Abbey." 3 
 
 ^ June 4, 1665. Ambassadors of a later date write in the same 
 strain : " Tout ce que je dcsirerais serait que le brouillard, Tair et 
 la fumce ne me prissent pas si fort a la gorge." Due d'Aumont to 
 Marquis de Torcy, January 19, 17 13. 
 
 2 Courtin to Lionne. June, 1665. 
 
 3 Courtin to Lionije. July 2, 1665. He goes on suggesting that 
 the Due de Chaulnes might be sent to replace Verneuil. 
 
 II 
 
1 62 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 The old gentleman had, luckily, one saving quality in 
 fighting depression : he was, as Evelyn noticed, a great 
 hunter. He does not seem at first to have taken kindly 
 to English dogs and horses ; but at length he came to 
 like them very much, the dogs especially. ^ We find 
 him at " Neumarquet," a place where "the stables are 
 all wainscotted and sculptured, and where horses are fed 
 with new-laid eggs and Spanish wine. They are exer- 
 cised daily." - He goes deer-stalking ; he purchases 
 dogs, gets into their familiarity, nay, their friendship ; a 
 ray of happiness then lights on his path, he feels no 
 longer alone, as when ■ he had only Cominges and 
 Courtin with him, and he no longer talks of going 
 before the others. His dogs are a world and a family 
 to him. But then there is the plague, and that is no 
 trifle. 
 
 In July there was no more doubt that the epidemic 
 w^ould not be stamped out, and that the whole town 
 would sufl^er. Precautions are taken, harsh, not 
 to say ferocious, precautions — hopeless too. In- 
 numerable quantities of houses are marked in earnest 
 with those crosses which Cominges and Courtin had 
 seen painted by derision over their own doors. Strin- 
 gent orders are issued by the Lord Mayor for the 
 shutting up of " visited " buildings, prescribing that 
 every *' house visited be marked with a red cross of a 
 foot long, in the middle of the door," and " printed 
 
 ' He had brought his French horses with him, to the number of 
 twenty-four. See a pass for them, April 25, 1665. ''Calendar of 
 State papers (Domestic Series) of the reign of Charles II." 
 
 2 Anonymous note of (about) the year 1687. " Correspondance 
 d'Angleterre," vol. cxxxvii. 
 
LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE. 1.6^ 
 
 words, that is to say : ' Lord have mercy upon us,' to 
 be set close over the same cross until the lawful opening 
 of the same house." ^ Living and dying men and 
 women were thus shut up together, until they were all 
 healed or all dead. This visitation was the famous one 
 described later by Defoe, and during which " le nomme 
 Miltonius " retired to Chalfont, and there placed in the 
 hands of his friend Ellwood the newly-completed 
 manuscript of his *' Paradise Lost." 
 
 Preparations are made for the removal of the Court ; 
 the exodus begins with the Portuguese ecclesiastics 
 belonging to the Queen. '' She has almost no Portu- 
 guese ladies with her, but she has for her chapel monks 
 and priests of her own country, of whom there is not 
 one who has not brought with him his father, mother, 
 nephews, &c. Her Majesty has caused all the pack to 
 be removed to Salisbury on account of the plague. 
 They iilled eight coaches." 2 
 
 The Ambassadors have to remain behind for a while, 
 owing to the difficulty of accommodating them. They 
 learn then by personal experience and with no small 
 astonishment the truth of the saying as to an English- 
 man's house being his own castle. The King's officers 
 go about the village of Kingston, near London, and 
 mark certain houses in chalk, their owners being ex- 
 pected to lodge the Ambassadors ; the owners refuse, to 
 the great dismay of Secretary Bigorre who had been sent 
 beforehand to arrange matters. " His Highness de 
 Verneuil/' he writes to Lionne, ** having left London 
 
 ^ In the number of July 6, 1665, of the " Newcs, published for 
 the satisfaction and information of the people." 
 2 Bigorre to Lionne, July 2, 1665. 
 
1 64 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 this morning to come here, I have had the honour to 
 accompany him, and I can now inform you, Mon- 
 seigneur, of our arrival at ' Kinstawn.' Messrs. de 
 Cominges and Courtin will arrive only to-morrow ; 1 
 doubt if even the last named will be able to leave the 
 town so soon, great as is his danger on account of the 
 plague. For a young fool, whose house had been 
 appointed by the royal officer for Mr. Courtin's use, has 
 removed the chalk with his own hands and asserts that 
 he will suffer no one in his house. The same reception 
 has been offered to the Ambassador of Spain. They 
 do their best just now to curb those ill-conditioned 
 minds to obedience, but to all appearances they will not; 
 easily succeed. You may gather from this, sir, that 
 there is no occasion for calling the Kings of England 
 nimium reges. 
 
 " There has been already discovered a visited house 
 in this place, but H.B.M. has ordered all the contents 
 to be removed and the rooms to be ' perfumed' with 
 the utmost care. *' ^ 
 
 Courtin must not remain inactive, and Bigorre 
 beseeches him to bestir himself without loss of time 
 not to let such an unpleasant precedent be established : 
 " If you find it advisable, Monseigneur, to speak about 
 this to the High Chamberlain, I think you will do well 
 not only on your own account, but for the sake of all 
 the Ambassadors generally ; for the Spanish Ambassa- 
 dor meets the same difficulties, and if this young mad- 
 cap is not chastised, we shall have to indulge in a fight 
 wherever we go on leaving this place, in order to 
 secure lodgings. As for myself, Monseigneur, being a 
 ^ July 12, 1665. 
 
LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE. 165 
 
 Gascon, I do not mind fights, and I can assure your 
 Excellency that you will always find me ready to shed 
 for your sake the last drop of — my ink." 
 
 This truly Gasconish letter is forwarded to Lionne by 
 Courtin, who gives at the same time a graphic picture 
 of the state of the great town. " You will see by M. 
 Bigorre's letter, which I have just received, in what 
 state of perplexity is my Excellency. Here I am bound 
 to stay some days more among a plague-stricken popu- 
 lation. For when they will have discovered the 
 * milord Chamberlain,' who is in the country, his power 
 will not prove strong enough to enable me to go and 
 lodge at the house of an Englishman who is not inclined 
 to admit me. I would feel quite disheartened as well for 
 this stay among people so little addicted to civility,' as for 
 the beautiful negotiation I have to conduct — which, how- 
 ever, does not prevent you from letting four ordinaires 
 go without your remembering so much as our being 
 alive — if I had not been so lucky as to fall in with the 
 Amadis. A good father Jesuit, who acts as my chaplain, 
 has ranged all the booksellers' shops in London to find 
 them and he reads them with as much pleasure as 
 myself" ^ 
 
 Thus kept in town by the stubbornness of English 
 householders, with the valorous deeds of mighty 
 Amadis to charm away the anxieties of the plague, 
 Courtin, as well as Cominges who suffered the same 
 inconveniences, was in the best possible situation to see 
 and describe the plague-stricken capital. They were 
 nearly alone, each in his house, having sent back most 
 of their men to France and kept only those who were 
 ' July 13, 1665. 
 
t66 a FRENCH ambassador. 
 
 strictly indispensable for their daily attendance, namely, 
 twenty-three persons each : 
 
 " I write to you from a desert, for so may be called 
 the place where we are, that is the quarter where the 
 Court stays when in town, as large nearly as the 
 Faubourg St. Germain. About thirty thousand persons 
 have left it during the last four days ; and yesterday we 
 (M. de Cominges and I) met people with white rods^ 
 that is, people with the plague, walking in the streets. 
 . . . We have sent back to France part of our apparel 
 and of our servants, restricting ourselves to the number 
 of only tw^enty-three each." ^ 
 
 On the 1 6th of July we find, at last, the two safely 
 established in Kingston, in the house of the rebellious 
 householder, whose door has been again marked with 
 the royal chalk, and whose " accueil " to his guests the 
 Ambassadors allow to remain undescribed. 
 
 But the plague progresses and makes its appearance 
 in the suburbs of the town ; Kingston begins to be 
 infected ; a house near the one occupied by Courtin 
 and Cominges has been shut up on account of a case 
 happening there. The Court will probably move one 
 league further, and the royal officers are again sent 
 beforehand to provide lodgings ; they experience 
 exactly the same difficulties as before : '^ We have sent, 
 each of us, one of our servants with the quartermasters 
 of the King, and they have told us that these officers 
 did not dare to chalk the doors on account of the 
 owners declaring openly that they would allow no one 
 in their rooms on any consideration whatever. Such 
 
 ^ To Lionne. July 13, 1665, 
 
LA CELEBRE AMBASSADE. 167 
 
 language can be indulged in with impunity in this 
 country." ^ 
 
 In this same month of July, the plague has done one 
 thing it had not dared to do as yet : it has begun to 
 attack " les honnetes gens." Up to the 9th of the 
 month people in society had been preserved, and, on 
 the 6th, Secretary Bigorre could still write to Lionne : 
 " The plague is not so contagious here as it is in the 
 warm countries ; for in the streets where four or five 
 houses are shut, one is allowed to talk with the plague- 
 stricken persons who open their windows : and people 
 walk in the said streets as if nothing was the matter. 
 It is believed that the air has not been corrupted as yet ; 
 no person of condition, no one even of the middle class, 
 has been attacked till now." 2 
 
 But things alter rapidly, and only yesterday the " wife 
 of a milord" did die.3 At the beginning of August 
 there are nearly three thousand deaths per week in 
 London, the average number being only three hundred 
 in ordinary times ; 4 a Lifeguard is seized with the 
 disease in the castle of Hampton Court. This last 
 occurrence is no small matter, and a proclamation is 
 immediately issued and read to the troops, ordering 
 " that all and any soldiers who may fall sick of the 
 plague are to declare it at once under pain of being 
 shot. All this will make our negotiation a charming 
 business ; possibly stopped against our will ; for if 
 one of our servants is seized with the plague we shall 
 
 ^ The Three to Lionne. July 26, 1665. 
 "^ To Lionne. July 6, 1665. 
 
 3 Courtin to Lionne. July 9, 1665. 
 
 4 Bigorre to Lionne. July 9, 1665. 
 
1 68 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 have to move away ; in which case it is a matter of 
 doubt whether we shall find shelter in this land/* ^ 
 An order to the same effect is issued to the naval troops. 
 Walking in the country has ceased to be the quiet, 
 healthy sport it used to be, greatly to the regret of 
 Verneuil, who found more pleasure in it and in his dogs 
 than in reading Amadis with Courtin, or Plato with 
 Cominges : "■ All the villages round Hampton Court 
 are infected, and I found yesterday, I, the Duke de 
 Verneuil, while having my walk along the main road, 
 the body of a man who had just died of the plague." 2 
 
 No question but the Court must move further, and 
 Salisbury is chosen as an appropriate place. The camp 
 is raised ; there is again great bustle and precipitation, 
 and great difficulties in providing carts and coaches. 
 Cartmen want forty francs for each seven leagues, and yet 
 the carts are not to be well filled, but remain half loaded. 
 People must, however, go ; Court and Embassies in 
 a procession ; and they do go. This affords to the 
 Envoys an opportunity of seeing the English country. 
 They saw it a century before the extraordinary increase 
 of the population — extraordinary in its rapidity — 
 had taken place; they are struck at the sparsely- in- 
 habited appearance of the parts they travel across. " I 
 was surprised to see so few villages in a distance of thirty 
 leagues of very fine land ; though it is reaping-time very 
 few people are seen working in the fields ; very few are 
 met on the roads. We have passed three towns, two of 
 which are named among the large ones of England, and 
 are episcopal sees ; but they are very far from bearing 
 
 ^ Courtin to Lionne. August 6, 1665. 
 2 The Three to Lionne. August 9, 1665. 
 
LA CELEB RE AMBASSADE. 169 
 
 comparison for their area, number of population, 
 strength of construction with St. Denis. All the others 
 in this kingdom (except London, York, and Bristol) are 
 no better. The common people live comfortably enough 
 because they pay nothing when the State has no war, 
 and because the land produces an abundance of food. 
 But the inhabitants of the country and of towns not by 
 the sea-side have no cash. They are not numerous, the 
 cause for which is that the colonies in the West Indies, 
 the English settlements in Ireland, the pressing of men 
 for the navy absorb a large quantity of people." ' 
 
 They reach Salisbury, where they have the pleasure 
 of seeing the famous cathedral, adorned with "as many 
 pillars as there are hours in the year, as many windows 
 as days, as many doors as weeks ; " 2 and they regret to 
 learn that the plague has made no less speed than them- 
 selves and has reached town at the same time as they. 
 One of the royal grooms has already been seized with 
 the disease, and *' he has been ordered to be shut in, as 
 well as all the others who live in the same house, which 
 is a very good plan to kill them all." 3 Though the 
 gates and avenues of the town are well watched, a man 
 with the plague has come in — " He has for two days 
 held intercourse with all sorts of people, and at length, 
 the day before yesterday, he fell stark dead in the 
 middle of the street, two hundred paces from the 
 house of the King of England. A tent under which 
 he had taken shelter has been burnt, and a house in 
 which he had slept has been shut, with the people who 
 
 ' Courtin to Lionne, August 15, 1665. 
 
 2 Bigorre to Lionne. August 15, 1665. 
 
 3 Courtin to Lionne. August 19, 1665. 
 
170 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 were in it, being nine servants of the Spanish Am- 
 bassador." The Spanish Ambassador, whose carriages 
 are shut too, is reported excessively angry. ^ 
 
 Verneuil alone feels better. He has immense plains 
 before him to ride on, and dogs numberless to talk to. 
 " He has a meute of his own with which he catches 
 deer." ^ Cominges and Courtin, followed or no by their 
 Amadis and Plato, enjoy life much less. " Cominges 
 is up only four hours each day, and feeds upon fish 
 only. As for myself," adds Courtin, who did not feel 
 at all inclined to serve as a " fascine " to the policy of 
 his friend Lionne, *' though only 38, 1 risk more, I am 
 sure, than any of the others. I wish I were with you 
 in the new house of M. le Commandeur de Souvre, 
 where I would swallow his potages with a greater relish 
 than I take the preservatives Madame de Sable has 
 sent to me." 3 
 
 The sadness of the days is scarcely relieved by the 
 frolics of the ladies of the Court, who, true, however, to 
 themselves, continue to play bowls, " which is one of 
 the great amusements of this country," 4 to dress with 
 elegance, to be courted, and to be very pretty. La Belle 
 Stewart and la petite Jennings shine as usual amongst 
 all the others ; they have extraordinary dreams, which 
 they tell reddening ; 5 but this is a brief amusement, and 
 the news from London comes each day worse and worse: 
 now there are 6,000 deaths per week, and now 8,250. 
 
 ^ Bigorre to Lionne. August 21, 1665. 
 =^ Same letter. 
 
 3 To Lionne. August 21, 1665. 
 
 4 The Three to Lionne. September 20, 1665. 
 
 5 Courtin to Lionne. August 23, 1665. 
 
LA cAlEBRE AMBASSADE. 171 
 
 Salisbury is less and less a place of safety. " Another 
 man died this morning in the street ; an unpleasant 
 custom which begins to spread." ^ The Spanish 
 Ambassador's servants were about to be set free after 
 eighteen days claustration, when a woman who had 
 washed the linen of the original sick man dies in the 
 house, and claustration begins afresh. Count de 
 Molina's indignation becomes too strong for words : 
 he was again to be deprived for an unlimited period 
 of his '' liquid blancmange that could be drunk as 
 lemonade." 
 
 At length, the force of the epidemic being spent, some 
 better tidings arrive from the capital ; in October there 
 is a great diminution in the number of deaths ; at the 
 beginning of November the rate has fallen to 3,300 
 per week, and later in the month to 1,800 ; people 
 begin to go back to town. 
 
 One of the effects of this better news was to hasten 
 the failure of the French Ambassadors' negotiation. 
 
 IV. The end of the negotiation. 
 
 All this while, and as much as circumstances per- 
 mitted, the three Ambassadors had renewed their re- 
 monstrances, declarations, and deprecations. They had 
 continued to see King and Chancellor, to deliver fine 
 speeches to the Duke of York, and to do all they could 
 to propitiate the ladies of the Court. For this object 
 the Spanish Ambassador spent much money ; but they 
 only offer " incense," a commodity which had been 
 enough till then with Mile. Stewart : ** I assure you I am 
 ^ Courtin to Lionue. August 30, 1665. 
 
172 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 on better terms with her than Count de MoHna is with 
 Madame de Castlemaine," ^ though Molina spends large 
 sums of money. The Spaniard has " what to feed 
 friendships with, and he acts according to the principles 
 in Philippe de Comines's memoirs." 2 The unpopu- 
 larity of the French is on the increase, and Englishmen 
 in the streets have entirely ceased to take off their hats 
 to the French Envoys.3 Louis is expected by his brother 
 of Great Britain, if he means to remain on terms of 
 friendship with England, to stop the Dutch, instead of 
 threatening to help them (as he was bound to do by his 
 Treaty of 1662). He owes no less, Charles pretends, to 
 a King at feud with a mere Republic : " Vous le devez 
 a la Royaure contre la Republique." 4 
 
 In October, Parliament meets at Oxford ; the Court 
 and the Ambassadors go there, where they are again 
 followed by the plague. Violent speeches are delivered ; 
 the nation is more and more inclined to war. The 
 Duke of York proves intractable. Being intreated to 
 show some conciliatory dispositions, " he answered that 
 he would always see us with pleasure, but as for chang- 
 ing his opinion, that he would not ; being, as he said, 
 an Englishman, and therefore stubbornness itself. 
 
 " ' But you are French on one side,' we answered. 
 * It is just you would make some allowance for that.' 
 
 " ' Gentlemen ', he replied, ' it is true. But know you 
 that the English are obstinate when they are in the 
 right ; and when they are in the wrong, then the French 
 
 ^ Courtin to Lionne. July 9, 1665. 
 
 2 Courtin to Lionne. July 9, 1665. 
 
 3 Same dispatch. 
 
 4 The Three to Louis. July 23, 1665. 
 
LA CELEB RE AMBASSADE. 175 
 
 have all reason to be obstinate too. Do not, therefore^ 
 expect anything from me.' 
 
 '' Thereupon he left the room and went to prayers." ^ 
 The English Envoys abroad were similarly disposed. 
 Sir George Downing, who was to give his name 
 later to a street famous ever since in the annals of 
 diplomacy, was doing all he could at the Hague to 
 prevent a peaceful arrangement. Holies, on his part, 
 was sending from Paris the most consoling news of the 
 weakness and maladministration of the kingdom : 
 France, he considered, had never been in a worse 
 state ; '^ the distractions and discontents and unpre- 
 parednes here : — never fewer forces on foote in France 
 than now ; — never people of all sorts — souldiers, gentry, 
 clergy, merchants, and all generally — more unsatisfied ; 
 the Protestant party, which is a considerable one, des- 
 perate ; all their allies displeased with them." , They 
 are perfectly isolated in Europe, everybody is against 
 them, and they stand a ready prey. " I doe not know 
 that ever it could be better for us and worse for them 
 than it is at this instant." - In this way are Ambassadors* 
 judgments sometimes obscured when their coach has 
 been stopped in the street, and when they have not 
 been called your Excellency by Secretaries of State. 
 
 The three in England, be it said to their praise, 
 however ill received by stubborn householders, gave 
 proof of a much clearer insight into the temper of the 
 British nation and a better knowledge of what it could 
 do. They never ceased to speak the exact truth : if left 
 
 ' The Three to the King. October 13, 1665. 
 2 To Arlington. October 28, 1665. Lister's "Life of Claren- 
 don," 1838. Vol. iii. p. 414. 
 
174 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 alone the Dutch will be worsted in the long run ; for 
 " all the Englishmen have wedded the quarrel of the 
 nation," ^ and will carry the contest to the bitter end. 
 They are more numerous ; they are as brave as can be ; 
 the resources of their kingdom are ample ; besides, in 
 such matters, one must always " bear in mind the 
 opinion of Marshal de Gramont, who says that God 
 scarcely ever fails to second the larger squadrons." 2 
 If Louis sides with the Dutch (which he has no 
 choice now but to do) he must prepare for enthusiastic 
 votes of the Parliament for men and money to sustain 
 the quarrel against him, and for diplomatic intrigues 
 all over Europe to group together the Powers against 
 him : " Parliament will readily approve all treaties 
 which will seem useful to ruin French projects. Your 
 Majesty will do well, therefore, to watch with a greater 
 care than ever all that will go on in foreign countries, 
 where in the future all will conspire against your 
 greatness, and where your plans will be more easily 
 foiled." 3 They seem, in fact, to foresee, not the 
 instant, irremediable ruin of France expected by 
 Holies for no better reason than that he was ill- 
 humoured, but Temple's Triple Alliance, and later 
 Eugene and Marlborough. 
 
 Van Gogh, the Dutch envoy, was still in London, 
 for, though hostilities were carried on, diplomatic 
 intercourse had not been broken. He beseeched daily 
 
 ^ '*Lcs Anglais sont naturellement braves ct [ils] ont, s'il faut 
 ainsi parler, epouse tous les qucrelle de la nation." Courtin to 
 Lionne, September 29, 1665. 
 
 2 Courtin to Lionne. July 23, 1665. 
 
 3 The Three to the King. November i, 1665 
 
i UNIVERS' ' 
 LA CELEB RE ^J/i?yi}5;4^£^^^^-"' 175 
 
 the French Ambassadors to declare themselves, to give 
 up all hope of a peaceful arrangement, and to trust to 
 the cleverness of the Saardam shipbuilders to put, in a 
 few weeks, the French navy on a right footing. " He 
 says that in other circumstances the States would be 
 sorry for an increase of the power of your Majesty at 
 sea ; but that to-day they want it ; that you have 
 seamen enough, but you la<:k ships ; that if you will 
 put your hand to your purse and give an advance of six 
 weeks to the shipbuilders of the village of 'Serdam,' 
 they will build you thirty ships ready to put to sea in 
 the spring/' ^ The spirit of the English people has, in 
 the meantime, risen to such a pitch that it is lucky for 
 Van Gogh that his compatriots have been worsted 
 again at sea (by Lord Sandwich) ; his life else would 
 have been in danger.^ 
 
 Courtin does not want to run the same risks for 
 nothing, and he writes, half playfully, half seriously, to 
 Lionne : " We await your orders with impatience, to 
 know what will become of us. All the grace I beg of 
 you is that, if you want to cast somebody to the dogs 
 of this country, you reserve this honour for Mr. Dumas," 
 a commercial representative of French merchants, " and 
 preserve for the sake of his four children the life of a 
 younger son of a poor family." 3 
 
 ^ The Three to the King. November i, 1665. 
 
 2 Courtin to Lionne. October 13, 1665. 
 
 3 To Lionne. October 13, 1665. A very modern complaint is 
 found in a dispatch of nearly the same date ; the three regret not 
 to receive more regularly and completely communication of the 
 informations sent to the King by his other representatives, and 
 especially by his agents in Holland, Sweden, and Denmark. 
 November i, 1665. 
 
176 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 Events, all this while, follow upon events. The 
 Bishop of Munster has sent troops against the Dutch, 
 and Louis has sent some against the Bishop ; Turenne 
 is on the frontier ; Philip the Fourth of Spain is dead, 
 and his sickly child little Hkely to survive him long. 
 One way or the other, by peaceful or warlike means, 
 the Anglo-Dutch quarrel must be settled with speed, 
 that all the attention and forces of the Sun-King may 
 be concentrated on Spain and Spanish affairs. The 
 Chancellor proves as obstinate as ever ; he continues 
 ill of the gout, and being addressed with a lengthy 
 speech on the impending evils, answers only with a 
 shake of his head, and a doleful expression, the meaning 
 and cause of which the three doubt whether to attribute 
 to the subject under discussion or to the gout. They 
 go to the King ; they find him in a more amiable 
 mood, but with no answer to give ; they go to the 
 Duke, who has one : he wants war to be declared, and 
 Louis may join the Dutch as much as he pleases. They 
 see Arlington, and he, at last, places in their hands a 
 note rejecting the last French proposals for an arrange- 
 ment. Being asked for explanations, and having none 
 to give, he " chooses to run away without returning 
 any answer." ^ 
 
 War will decide the quarrel. 
 
 ' The three to the King. Oxford, November 8, 1665. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOME AGAIN, 
 
 WITH many compliments and bows the " celebre 
 Ambassade" had come, bringing, as they 
 thought, peace ; with many complim^ents and 
 bows they went back, leaving behind them war. The 
 Pariiament, the nation, the heir to the throne, the 
 English envoys abroad, thirsted after war ; all the fine 
 phrases of Lionne's composition, those beautiful phrases 
 which were, according to Courtin, insufficient to 
 conquer ladies, had proved equally inefficient against 
 the strong will of the British nation. Nothing was 
 left but to take leave. As they were coming from a 
 pestilence-stricken country, they could not be allowed 
 to go straight to Paris, and they would have to undergo 
 the miseries of a quarantine, somewhere on the coast, in 
 the depths of winter, now near at hand. 
 
 Letters were despatched to the authorities near the 
 sea-shore for a proper place to be appointed to the 
 royal Duke and his colleagues. The Due de Mon- 
 tausier suggests, in answer, the islets of St. Marcou, near 
 Bayeux. '' It is true there are no lodgings there, 
 except a small cabin where a grey friar lives in summer, 
 
 12 ^77 
 
178 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 hermit-wise. Ces Messieurs would, therefore, be very 
 badly accommodated." Sheds would, however, be con- 
 structed for their servants and horses. ^ 
 
 This will not do. A more convenient place is 
 found at Pande, a little hamlet not far from Cayeux, 
 near the mouth of the Somme ; and there the three are 
 invited to go. No easy matter either, on account of 
 the sands at the mouth of the river, which are par- 
 ticularly dangerous in winter. They write from 
 London to beg that the Cayeux people be in- 
 structed to have their best pilots in readiness, and 
 to keep watch till the Embassy comes ; but they 
 especially request that they be allowed rather to land 
 at Calais. They would also be very glad if they 
 could learn that their quarantine will not be a very 
 long one : " We hear that in the warm countries the 
 quarantines never last longer than seventeen days. 
 If, therefore, we land without accident and in good 
 health, we hope the King will kindly allow us to slip 
 towards Paris with one single valet de chambre each. 
 . . . We do not know well what to do with ourselves, 
 and I would fain say, with Don Bertrand, I would I 
 were quit of it for two hundred stripes, and were at 
 home again." 2 But they had not the choice even of 
 this rough alternative, and to the mouth of the Somme 
 they were again peremptorily ordered to go. 
 
 Servants of theirs were at Dover all this while, trying 
 to hire ships for their Excellencies' journey. But no 
 master was found ready to run the risks, and the thing 
 came to such a point that Barnier, their man, wrote 
 
 ^ Montausicr to Lionne, November 16, 1665. • 
 ^ Courtin to Lionne. November 25, 1665. 
 
HOME AGAIN. 179 
 
 that an injunction from the King of England would be 
 necessary. It is indispensable that a '^ waran " be 
 obtained from the King allowing the Ambassadors to 
 " prendre des vaisseaux par force." The three write 
 rather to have ships sent over from France. 
 
 At length means are found, and the " celebre Am- 
 bassade '* is able to start on its home journey — not 
 before they had had a last audience from the King, and 
 received as parting gifts from his Majesty, according to 
 custom, earrings, gold boxes, and other souvenirs. 
 People on the road who had seen their coming were 
 able to see the truth of their prophecy, according to 
 which, if the Ambassadors meant peace, they might 
 have as well stayed at home. Ten times better, they 
 thought ! with the risks of the sands and of the 
 quarantine before them. 
 
 On Christmas Day, they are able to report their 
 arrival. They are settled at Pande, where they feel 
 very cold and shivering, and they blow upon their 
 fingers. Verneuil has lost his dogs, and is excessively 
 sad and ill-humoured. The incidents of the journey 
 are told by the three in one of their last collective 
 dispatches. '' All we fear now is the excessive cold 
 which has set in these last two days, and which we 
 keenly feel, being housed in a large building that has 
 never been inhabited, and the inside of which has 
 never been finished. We shall, however, not move 
 from the limits assigned for our quarantine, and we had 
 to-day mass said in this place without letting any of 
 our men go to the village church. So, whatever may 
 happen, we shall be chargeable with naught. Such 
 being our arrangements, we shall await with patience 
 
i8o A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 and in the most submissive spirit the orders of his 
 Majesty, not without hope that the wind and frost 
 having entirely purified our persons, an end will be put 
 to our torments. 
 
 " An English corsair, notwithstanding the passports 
 of the King of Great Britain, has seized a French ship 
 whose master had been entrusted with the dogs of me, 
 the Due de Verneuil, and with one of my Swiss. This 
 ship had left Dover the day before we started, a thing 
 we succeeded in doing only after the third trial. In ' 
 our first attempt our boat was nearly destroyed, as it 
 ran against the pier and broke its quarter-deck." At 
 the mouth of the Somme they had been very glad to 
 find the Cayeux pilots, thanks to whose skill one only 
 of their ships, and that one containing simply their 
 equipages, ran aground. ^ 
 
 In answer to this letter, and out of sympathy doubt- 
 less for the " ennui " they would feel in their seclusion, 
 they were invited by Lionne to turn their empty hours 
 to account by drawing reports on English affairs. To 
 this piece of kindness Cominges feebly answers that he 
 will do his best, but that he suffers so much from 
 " vapeurs de la rate " that he cannot " write for more 
 than a quarter of an hour without feeling giddy." As 
 for Courtin, his only objection is the cold, but he will 
 try and overcome that ; he will '' blow into his fingers 
 and fiilfil the order he has received." 2 His intention 
 was at first to end his memoir with a series of portraits 
 of the most notorious persons at the Court of England ; 
 but he thought the matter over twice, and, for fear of 
 
 1 From Pandc. The Three to the King. December 25, 1665. 
 
 2 January 6, 1666. 
 
HOME AGAIN, i8i 
 
 indiscretion, he considered it better to give his descrip- 
 tions by word of mouth, and to reserve them for the 
 ear only of his dear Lionne, when sitting " by his fire- 
 side." I 
 
 With such tasks before them — none being allotted to 
 Verneuil, too mournful, we suppose, for the loss of his 
 dogs to be able to think of anything else — the Ambas- 
 sadors spent the time of their quarantine. They 
 remained in good health, their servants did the same, 
 and they were at last allowed to see the towers and 
 spires of their beloved Paris. Cominges had again his 
 beautiful Cesonie in his arms ; Courtin found his four 
 children, and he could tell endless tales of his journey, 
 of the plague, of the stubbornness of James and the 
 fickleness of Charles, of the strange working of the Par- 
 liamentary machinery, of liquid blanc-mange and Spanish 
 chocolate, to his attentive friend Lionne. Whether 
 poor Verneuil ever met his dogs again, we know not. 
 
 What followed is a matter of history. The treaty of 
 1662 with the Dutch had to be fulfilled, and war was de- 
 clared by France against England on the 1 6th of January, 
 and by England against France on the 19th of February, 
 1666. Hostilities began ; they were very severe between 
 Holland and Great Britain, and much less so between 
 France and England. Louis, with his usual adherence 
 to his once-formed plans, managed so as not to render 
 an alliance with England impossible for ever. While 
 Ruyter was as earnest as could be, so much so as to 
 perform his famous deed of sailing up the Thames, the 
 forces of Louis did very little ; peace was signed at 
 Breda (July 16, 1667), where several of our friends, 
 ^ January 17, 1666. 
 
r82 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 namely, Courtin, Holies, and d'Estrades, met as pleni- 
 potentiaries. The negotiation for the treaty of union 
 with Great Britain was resumed, or rather continued, 
 not openly by Ambassadors, but secretly by Henrietta 
 of England, Duchess of Orleans, who was at that time 
 the real Ambassador of France to England and of 
 England to France. The outcome of her efforts was 
 the celebrated Treaty of Dover (1670), the consequences 
 of which were to prove so baleful to the Stuart dynasty. 
 As for our heroes, each followed separately his 
 own fate. Courtin was to continue, not without eclaty 
 his diplomatic career, being in after time to fill the 
 posts of Ambassador to Holland, to Sweden, and again 
 to England ; ^ Verneuil to die an old man of over- 
 eighty, in his Chateau de Verneuil, in 1682. Young 
 Lionne was not to marry at all his pretty petite GeninSy 
 but his cousin, Renee de Lionne. His father's attempts 
 to make of him a man of the world were as fruitless 
 as Chesterfield's for his own progeny ; he proved a 
 confirmed ass, till, haying injured his head with a fall, 
 he became absolutely stupid and had to be " interdit." 
 Miss Jennings married in succession two of the heroes 
 of Gramont's Memoirs, first George Hamilton,^ brother^ 
 of the author of the same, then the notorious Talbot, 
 so severely handled, not to say caricatured, by Macau- 
 lay in his " History " under his later name and title of 
 Duke of Tyrconnel. 
 
 ^ He died in 1703, being then "Doyen du Conseil d'Etat." On 
 his second Embassy to England, see Forneron, *' Louise de Kerou- 
 alle," Paris, 1886 ; translated into English by Mrs. Crawford. On 
 his Swedish mission, see Mignet, *' Succession d'Espagne," vol. ii. 
 
 ^ Made a Count in the French peerage and a Marechal de 
 Camp, and killed at the battle of Saverne. 
 
HOME AGAIN. 183 
 
 Cominges survived only till 1670. In number thirty- 
 eight of the Gazette of that year the following notice 
 occurs: *' The same day [March 25, 1670] Messire 
 Gaston Jean Baptiste de Cominges, Knight of the 
 Orders of the King, Lieutenant-General in his Majesty's 
 armies, Governor and Lieutenant-General of the town, 
 castle, and Senechaussee of Saumur, died here, in his 
 hostel, aged 57, after having received the last sacraments 
 with all the signs of the most sincere piety. He is 
 deeply regretted in this Court, as well for the many 
 qualities for which he was noticeable as for the great 
 services rendered by him to the Crown, not only in the 
 above-named functions, but also as an Ambassador 
 extraordinary to England and to Portugal." 
 
 Cominges now sleeps in St. Roch's Church, Rue St. 
 Honore, beside Crequi, Le Notre, Mignard, and several 
 other illustrious servants of the Grand Roi. As for 
 " Cesonie," she survived her husband, as well as the 
 Precieuses group, many years, and she had long ceased 
 to be " la belle Cominges " when she died in 1709. 
 
 THE END. 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE EXTRACTS FROM FRENCH 
 DISPATCHES QUOTED IN THIS VOLUME. 
 
 THE extracts embodied in the preceding chapters, and of 
 which we give here the French text, have been copied from 
 the originals preserved at the French Foreign Office ; 
 " Correspondance d'Angleterre," vols. Ixxv. to Ixxxviii. Most of 
 them are published for the first time. It has not been considered 
 proper to follow the changeable spelling of the secretaries to whom 
 the dispatches were dictated ; modern orthography has been in- 
 troduced throughout. All the extracts are dated according to the 
 new style. 
 
 1. The Union with England recommended by Mazarin. — 
 Louis XI r. to Charles II., March i, 1661. — Je suis assure que, 
 pour I'amour de moi, et pour I'estime aussi et I'afFection dont vous 
 honoriez mondit cousin [le Cardinal Mazarin], vous' donnerez 
 quelques regrets a sa memoire, et particulierement quand'vous 
 saurez qu'un des conseils qu'il s'est le plus applique a me donner 
 pendant ses dernieres et plus douleureuses soufFrances a etc de 
 m'etreindre avec vous de la plus etroite amitie et union qui serait 
 en mon pouvoir, et de rendre communs autant qu'il serait possible 
 les interets de nos etats. 
 
 2. Etiquette. — Instructions to d^Estrades, May 13, 1661. — ^Apr^s 
 s'etre assure d'un logis commode, qui ait du rapport a la grandeur 
 du maitre qu'il sert et y ctre descendu inconnu . ; . il est de son 
 devoir qu'il fasse savoir au Secretaire d'Etat ou au Maitre des cere^ 
 
 187 
 
i88 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 monies qu'il est arrive, a ce qu'ils aient a en donner part au Roi 
 leur maitrc et faire preparer les choses necessaires et accoutumees 
 d'etre mises en pratique a la reception d'un Ambassadeur du 
 premier roi d'entre les chretiens et renomme tel entre toutes les 
 cours des autres rois et pays les plus eloignes. 
 
 3. Precedence. — Instructions to d^ Estrada, May 13, 1661. — Le 
 Sieur d'Estrades, en toutes rencontres, conservera les preeminences 
 qui sont dues au roi, ne se soufFrant preceder par aucun Ambassa- 
 deur que celui seul de I'Empereur, s'il en envoyait en Angleterre ; 
 soufFrira a sa gauche TAmbassadeur d'Espagne, comme ceux de 
 tous les rois qui ne relevent leur couronne immediatement que de 
 Dieu. Mais pour ceux de Venise . . . il ne les soufFrira que 
 derriere lui. 
 
 4. The English Parliament. — Instructions to d^Estrades, May 13, 
 1661. — S. M. estime . . . qu'il est bon d'avertir le-dit Sieur d'Estrades 
 que la monarchic d' Angleterre est composee de trois Royaumes 
 dont les habitants different d'humeurs et d'inclinations, et nc con- 
 viennent qu'en une seule chose qui est de travailler avec applica- 
 tion k diminuer en toute rencontre I'autorite royale et la rendre 
 dependante de celle de leurs Parlements qui sont les Etats gene- 
 raux de chaque royaume et non pas un corps de justice comme 
 celui-ci. 
 
 5. Assistance to Poptugal. — Loui^ to ^Estrades, July 16, 1661. 
 — CetteLettre sera dechiffree par M.le Comte d'Estrades meme. — 
 II fut , . . considere . . . que les oppositions et les traverses que 
 les Espagnols par I'entremise de I'Empereur apportaient au dessein 
 que j'ai de tacher de Faire tomber la couronne de Pologne dans ma 
 Famille etaient une contravention Formelle a I'article du traite de 
 paix qui porte que les deux rois, comme bons Freres, procureront 
 sincerement de tout leur pouvoir les avantages I'un de I'autre ; et 
 qu'ainsi je n'etais pas plus oblige a concourir de bonne Foi a re- 
 donner au Roi catholique mon Frere la couronne de Portugal que 
 lui a Faire tomber dans ma maison celle de Pologne. 
 
 6. Louis XIV. AT WORK — Lionne to d^Estrades, Jug, 5, 1661. — 
 Ceux qui ont cru que notre maitre se lasserait bientot des affaires 
 
APPENDIX, 189 
 
 sc sont bicn abuses, puisque plus nous allons en avant ct plus il 
 prend de plaisir a s'y appliquer et k s'y donner tout entier. Vous 
 en trouverez une preuve bien convaincante dans la depeche que je 
 vous adresse ci-jointe, oil vous verrez la resolution que S. M. a 
 prise de rcpondre elle meme a toutes les lettres de ses Ambassa- 
 deurs sur les affaires les plus importantes et les plus secretes. . . . 
 C'est une pensee qui lui est venue de son propre mouvement, et 
 vous jugez bien que personne n'aurait etc assez hardi pour oser 
 lui proposer de se donner une si grande peine. . . . Voila comme 
 se forment les grands Rois, et je ne sais si depuis que la France 
 est monarchic, il y a eu aucun Roi qui ait voulu prendre sur soi un 
 aussi grand travail, ni plus utile, soit pour la personne du Roi meme, 
 ou pour le bien et la gloire de ses sujets et de son Etat. 
 
 La chose se passe de cette sorte : j'ai I'honneur de lui lire le& 
 depeches plus secretes qui lui sont adressees par ma voie, apres 
 qu'elles ont etc dechifFrees. II me fait aprcs I'honneur de 
 m'appeler pour me dire ses intentions pour la repouse a la quelle je 
 travaille sous lui en sa presence, article par article, et S. M. me 
 corrigeant quand je ne suis pas bien precisement sa pensee : En 
 quoi sans flattcrie ni exageration, je vous protcste que j'apprends plus- 
 que je ne me trouve capable de I'instruire. La dcpcche etant 
 formee, je prends soin de la faire mettre en chifFres, et ai I'honneur 
 de la lui presenter ensuite a signer, ce qu'il fait de sa propre main 
 et non d'une main cmpruntcc, comme il est accoutume chez Mrs, 
 les Secretaires d'Etat. 
 
 7. The Coming of Venetian Ambassadors. — Louis to d' EstradeSy 
 Aug. 12, 1 66 1. — J'avoue qu'apr^s ce que vous m'aviez mande par 
 vos prcccdentes [depeches] sur le sujet de Tentrce des Ambasadeurs- 
 extraordinaires de Venise dans Londres, et sur les preparatifs que 
 vous faisiez pour maintenir en ce rencontre la les prerogatives dues 
 a ma couronne par dessus toutes les autres, il ne m'aurait pu 
 tomber dans I'esprit que cette affaire la dut se passer et finir comme 
 j'apprends qu'elle a fait. Je ne vous cclerai pas que j'ai ete fort 
 touche de deux choses : Tunc que le Roi mon frere se soit melc la 
 dedans, sans necessite, assez desobligeamment, puisqu'il semble 
 avoir voulu decider une enticre cgalitc entre moi et mon frere le 
 Roi catholique, quoi qu'il ne put ignorer par combien de raisons la 
 preeminence m'appartient, et que j'en suis de tout temps et en 
 
I90 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 tous lieux en possession, L'autre, que vous ayez dcfcre a ce 
 qu'il vous a envoye dire, n'ayant mcme etc qu'une priere de sa 
 part, de n'envoyer pas vos carrosses, vu que, quand meme 
 c'aurait ete un ordre expres, comme il lui est libre de les donner 
 tels qu'il veut dans son Etat, vous auriez du lui repondre que 
 vous n'en recevez que de moi, et s'il eut apres cela resolu 
 d'user de violence, le parti que vous aviez a prendre etait de vous 
 retirer de sa cour, attendant ma volente sur ce qui se serait passe. 
 
 8. The Entree. — D^Estrades to Lionne, Aug. 22, 166 1. — Je me 
 preparerai dans la premiere occasion a porter I'affaire a une si 
 grande hauteur que je suis trompe si les plus severes trouvent 
 quelque chose a me reprocher. 
 
 9. The Entree. — Louis to d^Estrades, Sept. 28, 1661. — Je 
 desire que, soit que ledit Comte Strozzi [who was expected as 
 Imperial Ambassador to England] vous ait notifie son entree ou 
 qu'il vous I'ait celee pour complaire a Watteville, vous envoyez vos 
 carrosses au devant de lui, ct que vous vous mettiez en etat qu'ils 
 conservent la preeminence qui m'est due, precedant ceux de tous 
 les autres Ambassadeurs dans la marche. . . . Je ne vous dis rien 
 des mesures que vous aurez du prendre auparavant pour ctre bien 
 assure que vos gens seront en etat de se conserver dans la marche le 
 rang qui leur est du, me promettant que vous n'y omettrcz rien de 
 possible, et meme que la chose vous sera d'autant plus aisee que le 
 Baron de Watteville ne s'y attendra point. 
 
 10. The Entree. — Coming of a Swedish Ambassador. — Louis 
 to d^Estrades, Oct. 5, 1661. — L'avis est que le General Monk a 
 promis au baron de Watteville de lui donner des soldats de son regi- 
 ment Ecossais pour, avec quelques Irlandais, appuyer ses gens et 
 son carrosse et que sur cette esperance ledit Watteville s'ctait resolu 
 d'envoyer a la rencontre de I'Ambassadeur de Suede. Je le sais 
 de science certaine, de la maison de Monk meme, par un de ses 
 plus intimes confidents, et que Ic carrosse partirait pour aller a la 
 place de la Tour de Londres sans que cette escorte parut, mais 
 qu'elle se trouverait ou dans ladite place ou dans d'autres rues par 
 ou I'on devra marcher : ce qui me fait juger que quand meme 
 votre carrosse aura pris d'abord dans ladite place le rang qui lui est 
 
APPENDIX, 191 
 
 du immcdiatement apr^s cclui de TAmbassadeur, les gens qui 
 I'appuyeront ne devront pas I'abandonner qu'on ne soit arrive au 
 logis dudit Arabassadeur, de crainte qu'au passage de quelque rue 
 qui traverse celle ou Ton marchera, les Ecossais ou Irlandais ne 
 viennent le couper avec main forte, pour faire passer celui de 
 Watteville. 
 
 11. The Entree. — WEstrades to Brienne the younger, Oct, 
 6, 1 66 1. — Je fais les plus grands preparatifs pour cela [/>., to 
 maintain his right of precedence], comme I'Ambassadeur d'Espagne 
 fait les siens pour s'y opposer. C'cst une affaire remise a Lundi. 
 
 12. Right of Asylum. — D'Estrades's House Besieged. — D'Es- 
 
 trades to Brienne the younger, Oct. 6, 1661. — Mardi dernier le baron 
 de Cronnenster Suedois, ctant poursuivi par des sergents qui 
 avaient ordre de I'arreter pour quelques interets civils se rcfugia 
 en mon logis de Chelsea. . . . [The men of the police remove 
 him by force ; but the servants of D'Estrades rc-take him ; then a 
 constable comes with about two hundred men :] Cct officier en 
 nombre de plus de deux cents hommes vint pour forcer mon logis 
 et rcprendre le prisonnier. Ce qui avait reste de ma maison dans 
 Chelsea et qui ne m'avait pas suivi a la chasse ou je fus ce jour la 
 avec le Roi d'Angleterre les repoussa fort vigoureusement. Le 
 prisonnier fut maintenu et I'honneur de I'asile conserve. II y a eu 
 environ huit de mes gens blesses, beaucoup plus grand nombre de 
 la populace et deux de morts. [Charles thereupon sends a detach- 
 ment of his own life guards to keep the house of D'Estrades.] . . . 
 Trente soldats y couchcrent la nuit suivante, et depuis mcme j'ai 
 etc oblige d'en re<;enir une partie pour cviter un nouveau desordre 
 •de la part du peuple insolent et scditieux, et qui est accoutume 
 de se servir de ces prctextes pour piller les maisons des Ambassa- 
 deurs, ainsi qu'il est arrive a plusieurs et nommement a M. le Comte 
 d'Harcourt. 
 
 13. The Entree. — Louis to d'Estrades, Oct. 7, 1661. — Je vous 
 ccrivis hier par I'ordinaire qui part de Paris le mcrcredi pour vous 
 donner un avis que je souhaite vous ctrc arrive assez a temps pour 
 vous en prdvaloir dans I'occasion de I'entrce de I'Ambassadeur de 
 Suede qui ctait attendu a Londres. Je vous avoue que j'ai grande 
 impatience de savoir comment cette ccrcmonie se sera passee, et 
 
192 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 d'autant plus que je ne puis presque pas douter que ce n'ait etc \ 
 votre avantage et a ma satisfaction, apres les paroles que le Roi 
 mon frere vous avait donnees d'appuyer votre dessein et que, sans 
 cela meme, vous aurez pu, par le moyen de la garnison de Grave- 
 lines et du voisinage de France vous mettre en etat par vous meme 
 d'oter aux Espagnols I'envie de vous rien disputer. 
 
 14. The Entree — The Defeat. — UEstrades to Lionne^Oct. 13, 
 1 66 1. — Je ne pouvais pas mieux prendre mes postes et mes 
 mesures que j'avais pris pour n'avoir affaire qu'a Watteville ; mais 
 de joindre des soldats dcguises et tout le peuple, quand j'aurais eu 
 mille hommes, j'y aurais succombe. Ma satisfaction est que j'y ai 
 depense tout ce que j'ai pu emprunter pour faire subsister les gens 
 que j'avais fait venir, que n'y pouvant etre moi-meme j'y ai envoye 
 mon fils et que Ton y a vu que dans le combat, de cinquante hom- 
 mes qui etaient avec lui, il y en a eu cinq de tues et trente trois de 
 blesses et qu'ils ont soutenu le choc de plus de deux cents hommes, 
 et dans les autres postes ou mes gens ont ete aussi attaques, ils ont 
 fait leur devoir de meme. . . . 
 
 En huit jours j'ai pense etre assassine deux fois et ai eu mon 
 chapeau perce d'un coup de mousqueton ; des soldats et le peuple 
 me sont venus attaquer jusque dans mon logis. 
 
 15. The Entr6e — After the Disaster. — Louis to d^Estrades^ 
 Oct. 16, 1 66 1. — J'ai tant de hate de faire partir ce gentilhomme 
 . . . que je ne vous dirai pas a beaucoup pres tout ce que je 
 voudrais bien vous dire sur les incidents qui vous sont arrives, vous 
 pouvez croire que je les ai ressentis vivement, comme leur qualite 
 m'y oblige, mon honneur s'y trouvant considerablement interesse. 
 J'espere avec I'aide de Dieu et par la vigueur des resolutions que 
 j'ai prises et que je pousserai aussi avant qu'on m'en donnera 
 sujet, que ceux qui m'ont cause ce deplaisir seront bientot plus 
 faches et plus en peine que moi. 
 
 16. Opening of Parliament. — Batailler to Lionne^ Dec, i, 1661, 
 — Le roi d'Angleterre fit hier I'ouverture du Parlement dans la 
 chambre haute, ou apres avoir pris sa seance pare de son manteau 
 royal et de sa couronne, accompagne de ses grands officiers, tous 
 les Seigneurs gentilshommes et eveques etant assis dans leurs places. 
 
APPENDIX. 193 
 
 il fit appelcr Ics membres de la chambre basse, qui entrercnt 
 tumultuairement dans la chambre haute, comme la foule du 
 peuple entre dans la chambre de I'audience du Parlement de 
 Paris apres que les huissiers ont appele. lis demeurerent au dela 
 d'une barricre qui ferme Ic parterre oil sont assis les Seigneurs, et 
 au milieu se pla9a I'orateur debout. Rn cet etat le Roi d'Angle- 
 terre commen9a sa harangue [here follows an analysis of the royal 
 harangue]. Cette harangue a peu prcs en ce sens dura un quart 
 d'heure, fut fort bien prononcce par le Roi d'Angleterre fort 
 proche duquel je me trouvai et me fut expliquee par ' Milord 
 Belezc.' Ce qui m'en dcplut, c'est qu'il la tenait ecrite en sa main, 
 jetait tres souvent les ycux dessus, et presque comme s'il I'eut lue. 
 L'on m'a dit que c'etait la maniere d'Angleterre pour eviter de se 
 commettre a la risee du peuple, en cas que par un defaut de me- 
 moire le Roi vint a demeurer court. Les predicateurs en chaire 
 en usent de meme, et, si le chancelier que la goutte empecha de 
 se trouver a cette action avait fait sa charge, II aurait ete suggere 
 par derricre. 
 
 17. Clerks of the Post-office to be Hanged. — D''Estrades 
 to Louis, Chelsea, Jan. 20, 1662. — [The King of England] me dit 
 comme il avait fait arretcr les deux commis de la poste de Londres,. 
 qu'il avait trouve les enveloppes de ses paquets qui avaient ete 
 ouvertes, qu'il avait decouvert que Watteville avait donne mille 
 pistoles pour les corrompre, qu'il les allait faire pendre et qu'a 
 I'avenir cela n'arriverait plus. 
 
 18. Sale of Dunkirk. — D'Estrades to Lionne, July 17, 1662. — 
 Je suis bien marri de n'ctre pas en etat d'aller a St. Germain pour 
 parler au Roi d'une affaire qui ne deplaira pas a Sa Majeste et qui 
 lui est tres avantageuse. M. le Chancelier d'Angleterre m'a 
 depeche expr^s une personne de confiance et m'a apporte une 
 lettre de creance de sa part. Si vous veniez a Paris, je vous dirais 
 I'afFaire qui m'a ete proposee pour en rendre compte a Sa Majeste. 
 
 19. Sale of Dunkirk. — Batailler to Louis, Dec, 4, 1662. — 
 L'argent compte a Calais pour le prix de Dunkerque est arrive ici 
 et a etc mis dans la Tour de Londres, ou le Roi d'Angleterre I'a 
 voulu voir ce matin en allant se promener a ' Ouieiks.' 
 
 13 
 
194 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 20. CoMiNGEs's Journey. — Cominges to Louis, jfan. 4, 1663. — 
 Sire, je ne parlerais pas a Votre Majeste des incommodites que j'ai 
 soufFertes dans le voyage, par le debordement des eaux, si je n'y 
 ctais necessite pour excuser le peu de diligence que j'ai faite. Ce 
 n'est pas que je n'aie quasi force les elements a se rendre favorable 
 a Ses desseins, mais tout ce que j'ai pu faire, apres avoir evite deux 
 ou trois naufrages sur la terre et soufFert la tourmente sur la mer, 
 ^'a etc de me rendre ici le 23 Decembre, style d'Angleterre. 
 
 21. Entree of the Muscovite Envoys. — Cominges to Lionne, 
 Jan. 8, 1663. — Vous saurez done, Monsieur, que Ton lui a fait une 
 entree tout-a-fait extraordinaire ; tous les marchands ont pris les 
 armes ; les aldermans, qui sont les echevins, ont etc le voir et le 
 congratuler de son arrivee ; le Roi de defraye et le loge, et apres 
 un mois de sejour il a eu aujourd'hui son audience ou quinze ou 
 seize cents hommes de pied se sont mis sous les armes. . . . 
 Son carrosse a entre dans Whitehall contre la coutume. II est vrai 
 qu'il ne s'est par couvert en parlant au Roi de la Grande Bretagne, 
 mais pour moi, quoi que les Anglais disent, je ne crois pas que ce 
 soit tant par deference que le Moscovite rend a S. M. B. que par 
 vanite, voulant par ce moyen exclure I'Ambassadeur d'Angleterre 
 de se couvrir parlant a lui. Je crois que ce que nous pouvons 
 raisonnablement pretendre et demander, c'est I'entree dans White- 
 hall, parceque pour I'entree de la ville c'est une chose qui ne 
 regarde que le bien que tirent les marchands de Londres du com- 
 merce de la Moscovie, qui, de leur propre mouvement, ont fait 
 toute cette fanfare. 
 
 22. Secret Correspondence. — Cominges to Lionne^Jan. 8, 1663. 
 — Si vous voulez quelquefois m'ecrire sous I'enveloppe d'un mar- 
 chand, vous pourrez adresser vos lettres, a Monsieur Ayme, chirur- 
 gien 'Rue Rose Straet' au Commun Jardin, et moi j'adresserai 
 mes lettres a Mr. Simonnet, banquier a Paris. 
 
 23. The Entree — The Muscovite Precedent. — Louis to 
 Cominges, Jan. 21, 1663. — Ce que je vous dirai sur cette matiere 
 ne seront que des avis sur ce qu'on a pu juger de loin, et non pas des 
 ordres que vous soyez oblige de suivre. 
 
 Premicrement, j'estime qu'avant toute chose, vous pourriez vous 
 
APPENDIX. 195 
 
 enquerir confidemment du chevalier Bennct ou mcme du Roi quelle 
 est la" veritable raison pour laquelle il n'a pas fait covrir lesdits 
 ambassadeurs. Je vols que vous avezjugcque ce peut ctre parce que' 
 le Czar leur maitre ne fait pas couvrir les ambassadeurs des autres 
 Princes, que eux mcmes n'ont pas trop insistc a se couvrir, pour lui 
 conserver cette prerogative. Mais ce qu'a die ici I'Ambassadeur 
 de Danemark semble dctruire I'un et I'autre. car il a dit au Sieur 
 de Lionne . . . 
 
 S'ils n'ont que la qualite d'envoyes, quelque train qu'ils aient et 
 quelquehonneur extraordinaire qui leur ait ete fait, vous ne devriez 
 pas leur donner la main chez vous, d'autant plus qu'ils ne se sont 
 pas couverts devant le Roi, et en ce cas pour cviter cette contesta- 
 tion, si apr^s les avoir fait pressentir, vous trouvez qu'ils prctendent 
 la main sur vous en vous visitant, vous pourriez vous abstenir de 
 leur donner part de votre arrivee. 
 
 S'ils ont la qualite d'Ambassadeurs, il y a encore a considerer si, 
 ayant eux mcmes derogc en ne se couvrant pas, vous devez leur 
 donner la main dans la visite qu'ils vous fcraient et qu'ils sont 
 obliges de vous rendre les premiers puisque vous ctes arrive le 
 dernier ; mais pour ce point je m'en remets a votre prudence de le 
 resoudre aprcs que vous aurez bien examine la chose et su quel est 
 leur pouvoir et leur caractere et pour quelle raison on ne les a pas 
 fait couvrir. 
 
 En cas que vous jugiez a propos de leur accorder la main chez 
 vous, il reste encore a savoir si vous la devez accorder a tous trois. 
 Sur quoi je vous dirai que, pourvu qu'ils ne soient pas entre eux 
 d'une qualite fort inegale et qu'ils aient tous le meme caractere et 
 le meme pouvoir, vous n'en devez faire aucune difficulte. . . . 
 
 Pour ce qui regarde maintenant le Roi d'Angleterre et I'avantagc 
 que vous pouvez tirer du traitement extraordinaire qui a etc fait a 
 ces Moscovites, je crois que, sans pretendre tout ce que le peuple 
 principalement et les marchands qui font leur trafic en Moscovie 
 ont fait dans ce rencontre pour les obliger, vous pouvez vous res- 
 treindre a I'entree de votre carrosse dans *Wital' et que le regiment 
 des gardes soit en haie et tambour battant lorsque vous passerez. . . . 
 
 Pour ce qui est d'cviter, comme vous proposez unc entree publiquc 
 dans Londres, je ne Ic puis approuver par diverscs raisons, dont je 
 ne vous marquerai que la principale, qui est que, si vous evitez 
 
196 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 cettc ceremonie, comme I'a deja fait Watteville, cet exemple s'intro- 
 duirait bientot et bien facilement pour tous les autres ambassadeurs, 
 et quand il y aurait a I'avenir un ambassadeur d'Espagne a Londres 
 et que Toccasion de pareilles fonctions n'arriverait plus, je n'aurais 
 plus de moyens de faire voir au public qu'il cede la rang au mien 
 sans le contester et ne concourt plus avec lui, en execution de 
 I'accommodement qui a ete fait entre moi et le Roi mon beau pere 
 sur Tinsulte de Watteville. Quant a I'inconvenient que vous 
 alleguez que votre entree ne se pourra faire si honorablement que 
 celle des Moscovites, je le tiens de nulle consideration, eu egard a 
 I'autre plus grand qui en arriverait, de ne pouvoir plus trouver 
 d'occasion de faire abstenir des fonctions publiques les ambassa- 
 deurs d'Espagne. 
 
 24. The Act of Uniformity. — The Declaration of 1663. — 
 Cominges to the King, J(^n. 22, 1663. — La declaration du Roi de la 
 Grande Bretagne, publiee ces jours passes dans la ville de Londres 
 me donne suffisamment de la matiere d'ecrire a V. M. pour lui faire 
 savoir les difFerents mouvements qu'elle a produits dans I'esprit de 
 ces peuples, selon qu'ils sont pousses de haine contre le personne 
 de leur roi, d*amour pour la republique et de mepris pour le 
 ministere. 
 
 L'acte d'uniformite . . . a eu de si funestes succes que Ton a 
 decouvert plusieurs conspirations contre S. M. dont s'est ensuivi des 
 exemples de mort, de bannissement . . . qui, bien loin d'apaiser 
 et de faire craindre ces fanatiques, leur inspire a toute heure des 
 attentats contre toute la famille royale, avec un tel mepris de leur 
 vie qu'ils semblent courir a la mort comme a un remede a tous 
 leurs maux. 
 
 25. Charles's Character. — Cominges to Louis, Jan. 25, 1663. — 
 Toutes les vertus des particuliers ne sont pas royales et peut etre 
 celle de la bonte a trop d'empire sur I'esprit du Roi de la Grande 
 Bretagne qui, par exces, s'engage souvent plus avant qu'il ne vou- 
 drait ou du moins qu'il ne serait convenable. 
 
 26. Arrival of Gramont. — Cominges to Louis, Jan. 25, 1663. — • 
 Le chevalier de Gramont arriva hier fort content de son voyage. 
 II a etc re9u le plus agreablement du monde. II est de toutes- 
 
APPENDIX. 197 
 
 les parties du Roi et commande chez Madame de Castlemainc qui 
 fit hier un assez bon tour. Madame Jaret avec laquellc elle a ici 
 un grand dem^lc devait donner a souper a Lcurs Majcstes. Toutes 
 choses prcparccs et la compagnie assemblee, le Roi en sortit et s'en 
 alia chez Madame de Castlemaine ou il passa I'apres-souper. Cela 
 a fait un grand bruit; les cabales se remuent ; chacun songe a la 
 vengeance ; les unes sont pleines de jalousie, les autres de dcpit et 
 toutes en general d'etonnement. Le ballet est rompu manque de 
 moyens. . . . 
 
 27. Court Festivities. — Cominges to Louis, Jan. 25, 1663. — II 
 y a bal de deux jours Pun et comedie aussi ; les autres jours se 
 passent au jeu, les uns chez la Reine, les autres chez Madame de 
 Castlemaine ou la compagnie ne manque pas d'un bon souper. 
 Voila, Sire, a quoi Ton passe ici le temps. L'approche du terme du 
 Parlement donnera bientot d'autres pensees. Les plus habiles ont 
 deja commence a faire leurs cabales, et les autres attendent 
 I'occasion pour faire valoir leurs talents dans une si cclcbre 
 assemblee. 
 
 28. Diplomatic Style. — Cominges to Louis, Jan. 25, 1663. — 
 [Cominges will begin at the beginning] pour donner quelque 
 forme a cette depeche et ne la pas presenter a V. M. comme un 
 monstre sans pieds et sans tete. 
 
 29. Rumours Concerning the Siege of Geneva. — Lionne to 
 Cominges, Jan. 28, 1663. — Dctruisez nous, je vous en prie, ou par 
 moquerie ou par bonnes raisons cette imposture qui prend cours 
 touchant Geneve. Elle n'est pas meme dans le bon sens ; nous 
 sommes aux epees et couteaux tires avec la Cour de Rome, a notre 
 grand tegret, et on veut que tout I'orage qui se prepare contre le 
 Vatican n'aille fondre que sur ses mortels ennemis qui ne nous 
 font point de mal et qui n'auraient eu garde d'assassiner nos 
 Ambassadeurs. 
 
 30. The Reported Siege of Geneva. — Louis to Cominges, Jan, 
 28, 1663. — N'omettez rien de ce qui sera en votre pouvoir pour 
 detruire cette fable du siege de Geneve que mes envieux rcpandent 
 a dessein de me faire perdre I'afFection de tous les Protestants, dont 
 cet Etat \i.e,, France] a eu quelquefois bien besoin, et tachent de la 
 
198 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 gagner eux-memes. Jamais cette pensee ne m'est tombee dans 
 I'esprit, comme la suite le fera voir. J'ai la passion que je dois pour 
 le veritable culte de Dieu, mais je ne crois pas que ce soit sa 
 volonte qu'il soit etabli par les armes on par I'invasion des etats 
 d'autrui. 
 
 31 D'EsTRADEs REGRETTED BY Clarendon. — Clarendon to Lionne^ 
 Jan. 29, 1663. — Je plains tons les jours le depart de Monsieur 
 d'Estrades d'ici et, aussi souvent que j*ai occasion de parler sur les 
 affaires de France, souhaite que ce pourrait etre avec lui. 
 
 32. Temper of the English Nation. — Cominges to Louis, Feb. 
 12, 1663. — [Louis must succour the Portuguese] sans se rebuter 
 de la conduite de ces gens ici qui ne se connaissent pas encore, 
 qui n'ont quasi pas de forme de gouvernement, et dont les maux 
 passes sont encore si presents qu'ils ne songent a autre chose que 
 de s'empecher d'y retomber. ... lis sont lents, froids et flegma- 
 tiques . . . immobiles, transis et insensibles a tout ce qui devrait 
 les emouvoir. 
 
 33. Fete at the French Embassy. — Cominges to Lionne, Feb. 
 15, 1663. — Ma maison sera ouverte demain, avec trente personnes 
 vetues de deuil, quatre carrosses et huit ou dix gentilshommes. 
 Le Roi et M. le Due d'York me feront I'honneur d'y diner. Ce 
 n'est pas que j'aie prie S. M. ; mais II a voulu etre de la partie de 
 tons les illustres debauches de son royaume. Je voudrais bien que 
 vous en fussiez, seulement pour deux heures, pour me donner 
 ensuite vos bons avis et une embrassade qui me serait chere a pro- 
 portion de I'estime et de I'axTiitie que j'ai pour vous. 
 
 34. Dinners to M.P.s. — Cominges to Louis, Feb. 19, 1663. — 
 L'on attend le Parlement, les seigneurs s'assemblent et commen- 
 cent a venir des provinces. . . . J'espere que durant le terme du 
 Parlement j'*en attirerai quelqu'un chez moi par ma civilite et je 
 profiterai de leur connaissance particuliere pour acquerir la generale 
 de leur pays, de leurs moeurs et de leurs lois. 
 
 35. Variety of Subjects to be treated by Ambassadors. — 
 Louis to Cominges, Feb. 22, 1663. — Vous ne devez point apprc- 
 
APPENDIX. 199 
 
 hcndcr en semblables rencontres de vous ccartcr trop de votre 
 sujet en me disant toujours vos sentiments sur quelque affaire que 
 ce soit, car, outre que j'en ferai beaucoup de cas, rien de ce qui se 
 passe dans le monde n'est hors de la portce et de la politique d'un 
 bon Ambassadeur. 
 
 36. St. EvREMONT AND Gramont. — Cominges to the King, Feb. 22, 
 1663. — Le bruit ayant couru dans Londres des raisons qui retar- 
 daient mon entree, le chevalier de Gramont, and le Sr. dc St. 
 Evremont me sont venus trouver comrae bons Fran9ais et zelcs 
 pour la gloire et I'autorite de V. M. Je me servirai de I'un et de 
 I'autre selon que je jugerai a propos, et s'ilsfont leur devoir comme 
 je suis persuade qu'ils feront, j'espere que V. M. aura la bonte de 
 les ouir nommer et permettra qu'ils mcritent par leur service qu'Elle 
 leur pardonne apres une penitence conforme a leur faute. 
 
 37. The Son of Lionne. — Lionne to Cominges, Feb. 25, 1663. — 
 Je ne sais. Monsieur, quelles graces vous rendre de I'offre obligeante 
 qu'il vous a plu me faire touchant mon fils. II a deja tant couru 
 le monde que je n'ai aucune pensee de I'envoyer encore promqner, 
 mais seulement qu'il repare dans ses etudes I'interruption que ses 
 voyages y ont causee. Cependant je vous fais mille remerciments 
 trcs humbles de la grace que vous lui vouliez faire. 
 
 38. Instructions to Cominges on his Entree. — Louis to 
 Cominges, Feb. 25, 1663. — J'ai re9u votre ample dcpcche du 19% 
 sur ['incident qui vous arrive de la difficulte que fait aujourd'hui 
 le Roi d'Angleterre de revoquer le decret par lequel il ordonna 
 que les ministres publics n'enverraient plus a I'avcnir leurs car- 
 rosses aux entrees des autres qui surviendraicnt : en quoi, le decret 
 subsistant, vous ne recevriez point seulement le prejudice que votre 
 entree ne pourrait etre honorce de I'accompagnement du carrosse 
 de I'Ambassadeur de Portugal et de ceux des autres ministres des 
 Princes, mais vous vous trouveriez mcme hors d'etat de reprendre 
 jamais la possession de prcseance qui est due a mes Ambassadeurs 
 du propre aveu et deference des Espagnoh, s'il arrivait que le Roi 
 mon beau-pcre envoyat un nouvel Ambassadeur a Londres. 
 
 J'ai vu avec quel zcle et quelle fermete vous avez soutenu une 
 pretention oii vous croyiez ma gloire intcressce, lorsque vous avez 
 
200 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 agite la matiere avec le Maitre des ceremonies et, depuis, avcc le 
 chancelier et le Chevalier Bennet. Je n'aurais pas attendu moins 
 de votre affection et vous en sais beaucoup de gre. Mais comme 
 en des matieres si graves, je ne veux rien faire avec precipitation, 
 j'ai estime a propros d'attendre Tarrivee de la personne que vous 
 mandez que le Roi d'Angleterre me doit envoyer, et ecouter ce 
 qu'il aura a me dire avant que prendre ma derniere resolution. Je 
 vous donnerai seulement avis par avance que la conduite que vous 
 devrez tenir de dela pendant ce petit intervalle de temps, doit etre 
 d'adoucir autant que vous pourrez ce que, par le transport de votre 
 zele pour ma gloire vous pourrez avoir un peu trop aigri, et eviter 
 surtout d'en venir a aucuns reproches qui ne font rien au fait et ne 
 laissent pas d'echauffer les esprits, qu'il est plus mal aise apres de 
 faire revenir dans I'assiette qui nous convient a tous. S'il y a 
 quelque mauvaise reponse a donner, il vaut mieux que je m'en 
 charge, et meme qu'il paraisse toujours de dela que vous avez fait 
 tous vos efforts aupres de moi, pour les obliger, afin que votre per- 
 sonne et votre ministere leur soient toujours agreables, et si la 
 reponse est bonne, par la meme raison, je la ferai passer par votre 
 canal. 
 
 39. Expected Report on Parliamentary Institutions. — Lionne 
 to Cominges, Feb. 28, 1663. — ^^ ^^i verra avec grand plaisir les 
 relations exactes que vous vous proposiez de lui envoyer de tout ce 
 qui se passera dans le Parlement, et, en mon particulier, je ne 
 saurais vous exprimer combien je me suis rcjoui de cette esperance 
 que vous nous donnez. 
 
 40. Court News. — Cominges' Sheet of Court News^ Feb.^ 1663. — 
 [King Charles II. complains of unpleasant rumours concerning 
 himself, which he attributes] a cette braque de Jaret, encore dit-on 
 que le mot anglais dont il s'est servi veut dire quelque chose 
 davantage. . . . 
 
 Le chevalier de Gramont continue sa vie ordinaire. II voit les 
 dames aux heures permises, et un peu aux defendues. . . . Le 
 Roi le fait souvent appeler dans ses divertissements. II fait sa cour 
 a Madame de Castlemaine et a, par consequent, peu de commerce 
 avec Madame Jaret. 
 
APPENDIX. 20I 
 
 41. Negotiation in Writing concerning the Etiquette of the 
 Entrees. Louis to Cominges, March 14, 1663. — Comme nous 
 sommes tous mortels, et que peut etre, de soixante ans, le cas 
 n'arrivera, je serais bien aise de laisser au Dauphin cette marque 
 qu'il put faire voir de la justice et de la bonne volontc du Roi de la 
 Grande Bretagne, afin que, quand le temps et les personnes auront 
 change, il ne se puisse alors rencontrer de difficulte en une chose si 
 claire que les parties interessees y ont elles memes donnc les mains. 
 
 42. A Fray at Cominges's Door. — Cominges to Louis, March 15, 
 1663. — Le jour du mardi gras qui semble autoriser les debauches 
 
 qui produisent ordinairement les desordres, il pensa en arriver un 
 grand dans ma maison. Un valet de celui qui me la loue donna 
 un coup d'cpce sur la tete a un gar9on de boutique, et, etant pousse 
 par le peuple, se jeta dans ma cour dont la porte etait ouverte. 
 Quelques uns de mes gens s'opposerent a force de bras seulement 
 ■et de remontrances a I'efFort que I'on voulait faire pour y entrer, 
 cependant que les autres mettaient ledit valet en surete. Sitot 
 qu'il y fut, Ton laissa I'entree libre ; on demanda seulement le 
 criminel. . . . mais apprenant qu'il etait evade les plus insolents 
 jet^rent des pierres contre les vitres. Le bruit parvint jusques a 
 moi qui avals deja demande mon carrosse pour sortir. Je me 
 presentai a tout ce peuple qui se retira, et, de mon cote, je fis 
 rentrer tous mes domestiques et fermer ma porte, et avec un seul 
 gentilhomme et un page, je continual mon voyage a la ville comme 
 j'avais rcsolu. Ainsi tout se separa ; I'asile ne fut point viole [et] 
 ma personne [fut] respectee. 
 
 43. The English Parliament. — Cominges to Louis, March i 5, 1663. 
 — J*apprends du plus grand politique qu'ait eu TAngletcrre, qui est 
 le chancelier Bacon, que la plus assurce et la plus proche marque 
 de sedition est la disposition des sujets a interpreter les volontes 
 du Souverain, Si cet axiome est veritable pour le regime d'Angle- 
 terre, il n'est que trop apparent que ce Parlement ne se passera pas 
 sans quelque trouble. Mais, comme ce royaume n'est pas absolu- 
 ment monarchique et qu'il se conduit par des lois auxquelles le 
 Roi donne Tame par sa ratification, mais nullement valables que 
 par le mutuel consentement des deux chambres. Ton peut inferer 
 
202 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 qu'etant conduit avec discretion et sans emportement. Ton en 
 tirera du fruit pour le repos de I'Etat et pour I'afFermissement de 
 I'autorite royale dans les bornes prescrites par la loi. 
 
 J'espere dans peu de jours envoyer a V. M. un petit traite 
 auquel je travaille, touchant I'institution, I'autorite et la maniere 
 de proceder au Parlement. II m'a fallu beaucoup lire pour en 
 tirer quelques ilumieres particulieres, car il est dangereux de 
 s'informer beaucoup, ce peuple etant soup^onneux et mefiant au 
 dernier point. ... Si je vois que V. M. soit satisfaite de mon 
 dessein, je continuerai sur les matieres les plus importantes de ce 
 royaume et ainsi, avec le temps, je defricherai les choses les plus 
 epineuses et les plus cachees dans leur gouvernement. 
 
 44. D'EsTRADEs's English. — Cominges to Louis ^ March 19, 
 1663. — [Cominges explains] que si le Chancelier ne trouvait pas 
 dans mon esprit tant de docilitc que dans celui de M. D'Estrades, 
 le defaut venait de ce que je n'entendais pas sa langue, qui ne 
 produisait pas si bien son efFet par le secours d'un interprete que si 
 elle fut sortie toute pure de sa bouche. 
 
 45. Louis's Curiosity about Foreign Men of Letters and- 
 Science. — Louis to Cominges^ March 25, 1663. — Je finis ma dc- 
 peche par un ordre a I'exccution duquel vous me ferez plaisir 
 d'apporter grande application. Prenez soin de vous enquerir, 
 sans qu'il paraisse que je vous en aie ecrit, mais comme pour votre 
 simple curiosite, quelles sont, dans I'etendue des [trois royaumes 
 qui composent celui de la Grande Bretagne] les personnes les plus 
 insignes et qui excellent notablement par dessus les autres en tous 
 genres de profession et de science et de m'envoyer une liste bien 
 exacte, contenant les circonstances de leur naissance, de leur 
 richesse ou pauvrete, du travail auquel elles s'appliquent et de leurs 
 qualites. L'objet que je me propose en cela est d'etre informe de 
 ce qu'il y a de plus excellent et de plus exquis dans chaque pays, 
 en quelque profession que ce soit, pour en user apres ainsi que je 
 I'estimerai a propos pour ma gloire ou pour mon service. Mais 
 cette perquisition doit etre faite avec grande circonspection et 
 exactitude, sans que ces personnes la meme ni aucune autre s'aper- 
 ^oivent de mon dessein ni de votre recherche. 
 
APPENDIX. 20J 
 
 46. The Fray at Cominges's Door. — Lotus to Cominges, March 
 25, 1663. — Je suis bien aisc que vous soyez sorti heureuscmcnt^ 
 sans plus grand engagement et autant a votre honneur que vous 
 avez fait, de cette emeute de peuple, que Timprudence d'un valet 
 de votre hote avait suscitce centre votre palais, et qui pouvait 
 devenir une grande et facheuse affaire, si votre prudence et votre 
 intrepidite n'en eut d'abord arrete les suites. Ce sont de ces sortes 
 d'incidents que toute la sagesse humaine ne saurait prevoir. Sur- 
 tout j'ai fort estime les deux circonstances de vous etre presente a 
 tout le peuple, ce qui apaisa le desordre, et d'etre sorti au meme 
 instant, comme vous I'aviez auparavant resolu, accompagnc seule- 
 ment d'un gentilhomme et d'un page. 
 
 47. Conversation by Interpreter with Clarendon. — Cominges 
 to Louis, March 26, 1663. — II vint me recevoir a la porte de sa 
 salle et me donna audience dans son cabinet ou le Sr. Bennet assista 
 pour nous servir d'interprete, et, afin que nous nous puissons mieux 
 entendre, je divisai mon discours en huit ou dix points auxquels M. 
 le Chancelier repondait, et puis, par I'organe du Sr. Bennet, je 
 recevais la reponse. 
 
 48. Cominges's Preparations before a Royal Audience. — 
 Cominges to Louis, March 26, 1663. — Cette diligence a prevenir le 
 temps que j'avais prescrit m'eut surpris si, de bonne fortune, je 
 n'eusse employe toute la nuit a preparer ce que j'avais a dire, et lui 
 donner une forme qui, dans la dignite de la matiere, ne manquat 
 pas d'insinuations agreables, pour la faire ecouter plus attentive- 
 ment. 
 
 49. English Note concerning the Entree. — Trevor to Louis,. 
 March 29, 1663. — Le Roi mon maitre m'a encore charge de 
 donner sa parole a Votre Majestc qu'en quelque temps qu'il arrive 
 un ambassadeur d'Espagne en sa cour, si les memes raisons de la 
 paix et du repos de la ville de Londres subsistaient encore alors, et 
 que cette consideration I'empcchat, comme elle fait aujord'hui, de 
 changer et revoquer la resolution faite en I'annee 1661, en ce cas 
 la, le Roi mon maitre, en toutes les autres occasions ou le concours 
 du peuple ne sera pas a apprehender, comme a des bals, festins,. 
 
204 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 mariages, et autres ceremonies qui se feront a Whitehall et dans les 
 maisons royalcs ou en la presence du Roi mon maitre, Sa Majeste 
 fera sincerement et de bonne foi jouir pleinement, en ce qui 
 •dependra de Lui, PAmbassadeur de Votre Majeste de la preseance 
 que TEspagne lui a cedee. 
 
 50. Instructions concerning the Entree. — Louis to Cominges, 
 April I, i663.^Vous pouvez done maintenant faire votre entree 
 sans raccompagnement d'aucun carrosse des autres ministres 
 etrangers, conformement au decret du Roi de la Grande Bretagne 
 de I'annee 1661, que vous remarquerez dans I'ecrit que je n'ai 
 laisse nommer que resolution, attendu que I'autre terme est odieux 
 a regard des Ambassadeurs, sur la conduite desquels il ne semble 
 pas que personne puisse rien decreterque leurs propres souverains. 
 
 51. CoMiNGEs's Report on Parliament. — April 2, 1663. — [From 
 the MS. 526, fol. 269, et seq. of the Toulouse Library, containing 
 copies of the correspondence of d'Estrades] — Discours sur le Par- 
 lement, fait et qui m'a ete envoye en Hollande par M. de Cominges. 
 ... La matiere sur laquelle j'ai resolu d'entretenir V. M. est si 
 delicate, si ample et si pleine de difficultes que les plus habiles 
 ecrivains qui s'en sont melcs jusqu'a ce temps ne sont pas d'accord 
 entre eux de beaucoup de points essentiels, dont Teclaircissement 
 depend de la recherche des archives qui sont souvent dcfectueuses 
 et des circonstances de I'histoire qui diiRcilement ct presque jamais 
 ne se rencontrent sans partialite, si bien que, pour en traiter a fond 
 il faudrait etre fort verse dans les lois d'Angleterre et jouir de cet 
 heureux loisir qui m'a toujours ete denie par les traverses de ma 
 mauvaise fortune. Ainsi, Sire, V. M. aura la bonte d'excuser mes 
 fautes et de se contenter de ce que j'ai pu apprendrc dans la 
 conversation des honnetes gens et puiser dans le texte des meilleurs 
 ecrivains. 
 
 [He will do his best to describe] ce grand corps que I'on peut 
 appeler auguste en cet Etat, puisque quelques uns n'ont pas doute 
 d'y placer le souverain pouvoir. . . . 
 
 Ouant au terme de Parlement que le latin de la loi Anglaise 
 nomme Parliamentum il est etranger et vint apparemment avec le 
 langage normand qui fournit encore aujourd'hui le texte de toutes 
 les vieilles lois d'Angleterre. ... II y a quelques legistes anglais 
 
APPENDIX. 205 
 
 qui, voulant tirer une allusion du jargon ou vieil normand de leurs 
 lois, vculcnt que Parlcmcnt soit dit " Parler de la ment^^ ; ioqui ex 
 mente^ parce que c'est un lieu privilcgie pour les membres de I'une 
 et de Tautre chambre, qui peuvent impunement declarer leurs sen- 
 timents, mcme contre le Roi, sans pouvoir etre censures ni molestcs 
 pour ce regard, ce pendant qu'ils parlent entre les parois de leurs 
 chambres respectives. 
 
 52. English Men of Letters. — Cominges to Louis, April 2, 1663. 
 — L'ordre que je re9ois de V. M. [de m'informer avec soin et cir- 
 conspection des hommcs les plus illustres des trois royaumes qui 
 composent celui de la Grande Bretagne, tant aux arts qu'aux 
 sciences] — the passage between parentheses was ciphered in the 
 original — est une marque de la grandeur et de I'elevation de Son 
 ame ; rien ne me parait de plus glorieux, et V. M. me permettra 
 s'il lui plait, de la feliciter d'avoir eu une pensee si digne d'un 
 grand monarque et qui ne le rendra pas moins illustre dans les 
 siecles a venir que laconqucte d'une place et le gain d'une bataillc. 
 Mu de curiositc, et I'esprit toujours tendu au service et a la gloire 
 de V. M. . . . j'avais deja jetc quelque plan pour m'eclairciry 
 mais je n'avais pas encore ete fort satisfait. II semble que les arts 
 et les sciences abandonnent quelquefois un pays pour en aller 
 honorer un autre a son tour. Presentement elles ont passe en 
 France, et, s'il en reste ici quelques vestiges, ce n'est que dans la 
 memoire de Bacon, de Morus, de Bucanan et, dans les derniers 
 siecles, d'un nommc Miltonius qui s'est rendu plus infame par ses 
 dangereux ecrits que les bourreaux et les assassins de leur roi. 
 Je ne manquerai pourtant pas de m'informer fort soigneusement et 
 avec d'autant plus de joie que rien au monde ne me semble plus 
 digne de V. M. 
 
 53. Thanks to Cominges for his Report on Parliament. — ' 
 Louis to Cominges, Aprils, 1663. — J'ai re9u votre depeche du 2 
 Avril et votre discours sur I'institution, les fonctions at I'autoritc 
 des Parlements d'Angleterre, que je me propose de lire avec grand 
 plaisir et d'en tirer une idee qui me demeurera dans I'esprit pour 
 ma pleine instruction sur une maticre si importante et que Ton a 
 tous les jours occasion de traiter. C'est pourquoi, par avance, 
 vous ne devez pas douter que je ne vous sache grc de I'application/ 
 
2o6 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 que vous avez voulu donner a cette curieuse recherche et a ce 
 travail. 
 
 54. Lionne's Thanks for the Same. — Lionne to Cominges, April 
 8, 1663. — Depuis que le Roi a signc la Icttre qu'il vous ccrit, S. M. 
 a eu le temps d'ccouter avec grande attention, d'un bout a I'autre, 
 la lecture du bel ecrit que vous lui avez adresse touchant le Parle- 
 ment d'Angleterre. Je vous avals toujours bien cru, Monsieur, un 
 cavalier fort eclaire et tres habile, mais je vous demande aujourd'hui 
 pardon du tort que je vous ait fait longtemps de ne vous avoir pas 
 cru de cette force. Jamais je n'ai rien vu de mieux couche par 
 ■ccrit, de plus judicieux et plus curieusement recherche. 
 
 55. A Papal Plenipotentiary — The Crequi Affair. — Liotme to 
 Cotninges^ April %^ 1663. — Le Plenipotentiaire du Pape n'etait pas 
 encore parti de Rome, le 24me du passe pour venir a Lyon. II 
 se sera sans doute mis en chemin aussitot apres les fetes, et, comme 
 il est gros et gras et qu'il vient en carrosse et en litiere, je ne juge 
 pas qu'il puisse se rendre au lieu de I'abouchement que vers le 
 vingtieme du courant. ■ • 
 
 56. Postal Delays. — Cominges to Lionne, April g, 1663. — Une 
 dc vos lettres . . . s'est trouvee dans la poche d'un courrier qui 
 s'est noyc vers Boulogne. Elle est en si mauvais etat que je ne 
 m'en saurais quasi servir, si bien que je crois que ce serait a propos 
 de m'en envoyer une autre de pareille substance. 
 
 57. Political advantages of the Catholic Creed. — Cominges to 
 Lionne, April 17)^ 1663. — Le Roi de la Grande Bretagne ne fera 
 rien contre notre religion que contraint et force par les chambres, 
 parce que je le trouve persuade que aucune autre n'est si propre 
 pour I'autoritc absolue. 
 
 58. The Intended Treaty of Union with England. — Louis to 
 d'Estrades {at the Hague), April 13, 1663. — J'ai eu la reponse que 
 le chancelier d'Angleterre vous a faite, qui m'a plus confirme dans 
 tous les soup^ons que j'avais du changement de volontc du Roi con 
 maitre sur notre union, que toutes les autres considerations qui nie 
 I'avaient jusque la fait soup9onner. II y avait de bien meilleures 
 
APPENDIX. 207 
 
 raisons a dire pour un habile homme qui veut cxcuser les longueurs : 
 sa goutte, les affaires du nouveau parlement, I'inapplication de 
 <5u:lque ministre subalterne — tout cela valait encore mieux que 
 de se plaindre que le sieur de Cominges n'a pas encore pris la 
 qualite d'ambassadcur. II est absurde de dire qu'elle est necessaire 
 pour faire un traitc ; il suffit d'en avoir le pouvoir. Le sieur de 
 Lionne a traitc la paix mcme, a Madrid, cache dans un trou du 
 Buen Retiro. . . . Le chancelier . . . voit pent ctre que son 
 maitre mcdite de s'unir plutot avcc les Espagnols qu'avec moi. 
 Cominges aura maintenant fait son entree et on verra qu'ils ne 
 s'cn hateront pas davantage de traiter avec lui ; tous ces enigmes 
 seront bientot developpes et je saurai a quoi m'en tenir. 
 
 59. Tunisian Corsairs. — Louis to Co7ninges, April 18, 1663. — 
 J'ai re^u il y a deux jours une nouvellc qui m'a fort rcjoui par les 
 consequences que j'en tire plus que pour la chose en soi. J'ai eu 
 avis que quelques vaisscaux de mon escadre que commande le 
 Chevalier Paul ont donne chasse a deux corsaircs dc Barbaric, et, 
 les ayant fait cchouer a la cote sous La Goulctte, les ont brules 
 tous deux, bien qu'ils fussent sous le canon de la forteresse. Les 
 Turcs qui les'montaient au nombre de six cents se sont tous jetes 
 a la mcr, mais, outre le dommage que ces pirates ont re9u, j'en 
 tire la consequence que, contre la croyance qu'on avait cue jusqu'ici, 
 la legerctc des navires de ces corsaircs n'est pas telle que nos vais- 
 seaux ne les puissent joindre. On a fait aussi une autre petite 
 prise de vingt-six Turcs qui ont etc amcnes a Toulon dans mes 
 galcres. 
 
 60. CoMiNGEs's Entree — The Event. — Cominges to Lionne^ April 
 19, 1663. — Vous saurez done, Monsieur, que toutes choses ctant 
 preparces et arrctces dc part et d'autre, Ic I4mc du mois, I'Aide des 
 Ceremonies me vint prendre dans ma maison avec trois barges du 
 Roi pour me conduire a ' Grennitche ' qui est le lieu ou Ton va 
 recevoir les Ambassadeurs pour les conduire a Londres. Je n'y 
 fus pas sitot arrive que le Maitre des Ceremonies y arriva accom- 
 pagnc de cinq ou six officiers du Roi, qui, m'ayant complimentc 
 sur mon arrivce, me dit que ' M. le Comtc d'Evinchcres ' arrive- 
 rait bientot de la part de son maitre pour me conduire. II arriva 
 une hcurc aprcs avec une grande cscorte, et six gentilshommcs de 
 
2o8 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 la chambre et quatre barges du Roi, et une superbement orncc, 
 dans laquelle il me fit entrer apres avoir dit I'ordre qu'il avait dc 
 me venir recevoir. 
 
 Sitot que nous fumes embarqucs, les vaisseaux qui etaient dan& 
 le port firent une decharge de leur artillerie. Durant le trajet la 
 conversation ne fut que sur la grandeur du Roi et sur les belles 
 qualites de sa personne. De ma part, je ne fus pas muet sur celles 
 du Roi d'Angleterre. Nous arrivames a la Tour qui avait arborc 
 le pavilion royal, qui est une des marques les plus honorables que 
 Ton puisse rendre a un Ambassadeur. Quelques gardes du Roi 
 etaient en haie sur le bord de I'eau pour faciliter ma descente et 
 ecarter le peuple qui y etait en quantite prodigieuse. 
 
 L'on me fit monter dans le carrosse du Roi qui est magnifique. 
 J'y entrai avec le comte ' d'Evincheres,' mon fils et le Maitre des 
 Ceremonies. Nous fumes arr^tes quelque temps pour donner loisir 
 a I'Aide des Ceremonies de mettre en marche plus de cinquante 
 carrosses a six chevaux et plusieurs autres ; et sitot que Ton com- 
 men9a a marcher Ton tira de la Tour cent quatre coups de canon, 
 savoir soixante et dix pour I'ambassadeur, vingt pour le Roi et le 
 reste pour le Gouveneur. J'en vis I'ordre et la distribution signes 
 du Secretaire d'Etat. Nous marchames pres d'une lieue au travers 
 d'une si grande foule de peuple et de carrosses qui etaient au coin 
 des rues, que nous fumes plus de trois heures a faire le chemin. 
 
 Enfin j'arrivai a travers cette foule a mon logis ou, apres avoir 
 remercie mon conducteur et Tavoir reconduit jusques a son carrosse, 
 et fait compliment a tous ceux qui I'avaient accompagne de la part 
 du Roi, je fus visite de sa part par le fils du grand Chamberlain, 
 le lendemain de la part des Reines, du due d'York et de la 
 Duchesse ; le lendimain qui fut le dimanche, je fus visite de plu- 
 sieurs personnes de qualitc ; M. le due de 'Buquinham' com- 
 men9a le premier. Mon audience fut resolue au Mardi a trois 
 heures. 
 
 M. le comte de 'Belhfort' me vint prendre de la part du Roi avec 
 autant de carrosses que le jour de mon entree. Je fus conduit a 
 Whitehall au milieu des gardes qui etaient en haie, tambour 
 battant et la cavalerie trompette sonnant. J'entrai dans le car- 
 rosse du Roi, qui est la meme chose que Ton fit aux Moscovites, 
 les miens ayant demcure a la porte. Je ne voulus pas demander 
 
APPENDIX. 209 
 
 davantagc, outre que cc n'est pas la coutume et que cela ne fait en 
 cette cour aucune consequence. . . . [He sees then the King, 
 Queen, &c.] 
 
 Le lendemain j'eus audience de la Reine-m^re qui, pour obliger 
 le Roi, voulut que mes carrosses entrassent chez elle. Je la 
 trouvai accompagnee d'une grande quantitc de dames et je vous 
 avoue que je fus re9u par tous les officiers avec tant d'honneurs 
 que I'on ne saurait rien y ajouter. . . . J'esp^re que demain je 
 verrai le chancelier et puis je donnerai deux ou trois jours a rece- 
 voir les visites des ministres etrangers qui sont ici, et puis je leur 
 rendrai, afin de faire toutes choses selon I'ordre. 
 
 61. CoMiNGEs's Expenses for his Chapel. — To Lionne, April 
 19, 1663. — Sans contredit voici bien le lieu du monde ou il se fait 
 le plus de depense et oil Ton fait le plus de litiere d'argent. Je 
 trouve que nous sommes bien heureux qu'il n'y ait point ici 
 d'ambassadeur d'Espagne. II faudrait bien que notre Maitre ouvrit 
 sa bourse. II n'est pas possible de vivre ici pour deux milles ecus 
 par mois. Sans parler des choses extraordinaires, le louage des 
 maisons, le change de I'argent et le port des lettres consommcnt un 
 tiers de ce que me donne S. M. Je ne me plaindrais pas si j'avais 
 de quoi soutenir cette depense, mais la honte de succomber serait 
 pour moi le dernier des supplices . . . Je ne vous ai pas seulement 
 parle de la depense de ma chapelle, sur laquelle je n'avais jamais 
 fait d'etat, et si il est vrai qu'elle est forte et si necessaire qu'il 
 vaudrait mieux retrancher toutes choses que de ne pas faire cette 
 depense avec magnificence. J'ai tous les jours six messes qui ne 
 suffisent pas a la foule qui se trouve pour les ou'ir. II y a jusqu'a 
 soixante et quatre-vingts communions tous les dimanches et le 
 nombre va bien augmenter sitot que Ton donnera la chasse aux 
 pretres. 
 
 62. The Entree. — St. Evremont and Gramont. — Cominges to 
 Louis, April 19, 1663. — Les Fran^ais qui se sont trouves en cette 
 Cour ont fait leur devoir, et le Chevalier de Gramont y a paru avec 
 la meme magnificence qu'il a accoutume de faire en semblables 
 actions ; le pauvre St. Evremont, moins brave, mais plus afflige et 
 inconsolable, s'il n'avait quelque espcrance qu'enfin V, M. lui 
 pardonnera une faute ou son esprit a plus de part que son coeur. 
 
 14 
 
2 1 o A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 63. The Entree. — Approval of Louis. — Louis to Cominges, April 
 29, 1663. — J'ai appris avec beaucoup de satisfaction par vos 
 depeches du 19 du courant que toutes choses se soient si bien 
 passees et avcc tant d'avantage pour ma dignite et tant de lustre 
 pour votre Ambassade dans Ics ceremonies de votre entree et de vos 
 audiences publiques. Je voudrais seulement que le peuple qui y a 
 concouru avec tant d'affluence eut eu plutot en cela un motif 
 d'afFection que de curiosite. 
 
 64. Charles's Opinion on Cominges. — BeUings to a^Estrades, 
 May 22, 1663. — [Le Roi] s'est souvent plaint a moi de la conduite 
 de M. de Cominges qui lui parait extraordinaire ou, pour me 
 servir de ses paroles, qui lui fait perdre la tramontane et le reduit 
 a ne savoir plus ou il en est. . . . Dans tous ses discours il temoigne 
 vour regretter fort et souhaiter votre retour en ce pays ; il me dit 
 encore hier que s'il avait la satisfaction de vous voir ici qu'il 
 assurerait que les affaires prendraient bientot un autre pli et 
 seraient bientot terminces. Je le souhaite de tout mon coeur. 
 
 65. A Drinking Bout. — Cominges to Louis, May 28, 1663. — II est 
 arrive depuis huit jours une affaire assez plaisante en cette cour. 
 M. le Comte d'Oxford, un des plus qualifies seigneurs d'Angleterre, 
 chevalier de la Jarretiere et maitre de Camp du Regiment de 
 cavalerie du Roi pria a diner le General Monk, le Grand Chan- 
 celier du Royaume, et quelques autres conseillers d'Etat. A ce 
 nombre se joignircnt tous les jeunes gens de qualite. La dcbauche 
 s'cchauffa a tel point que chacun y fut offenseur et offense ; Ton se 
 gourma, I'on s'arracha les cheveux ; enfin deux de la troupe se 
 battirent a coups d'epee, mais, assez heureusement, cette escar- 
 mouche separa la compagnie. Chacun prit son parti selon son 
 inclination ; ceux qui s'en allerent avec le General demanderent a 
 boire : on leur en donna. lis pousserent I'affaire jusques au soir, 
 ce qui les obligea de demander a manger. Etant cchauffcs du 
 matin et de I'apres diner, chacun resolut de porter son compagnon 
 par terre. Le General qui a sans doute la tete plus forte fit un 
 coup de maitre en leur prcsentant a chacun un hanap qui tenait 
 beauroup ; les uns I'avalerent, les autres ne purent, mais gcnerale- 
 ment tous demeurerent jusques au lendemain sans avoir conversa- 
 tion quoique en meme cnambre. Le seul General alia au Parle- 
 
APPENDIX. 211 
 
 ment comme a son ordinaire et n'cn perdit ni le jugement ni 
 I'esprit. Cela a fait rirc la compagnie. 
 
 dd. Louis at Work. — The Measles. — Lionne to Cotninges, June 
 3, 1663. — Votre eloignement vous aura servi de vous exempterdes 
 transes tcrriblcs ou nous avons ete pendant deux jours de la semaine 
 passce, puisquc vous apprendrez plutot I'enticre guerison du Roi 
 que vous n'aurez su sa maladie. Lorsque le dernier ordinaire 
 <l'Anglctcrre partit, Sa Majestc qui ctait, le jour auparavant, a 
 Versailles n'avait eu encore qu'une legcre emotion, mais le mal se 
 declara bientdt et Ton reconnut avec la douleur que vous pouvez 
 imaginer que c*ctait la rougeole, contractee par son inseparabilite 
 avec la Reine lorsqu'elle en avait ete attaquee. Vous savez peut- 
 ^tre que ce mal n'est jamais sans danger aux personnes qui ont 
 passe vingt ans; et, en efFet, on nc peut pas etre plus malade que le 
 Roi ne fut tout le jour et la nuit du jeudi et toute la matinee du 
 veiidredi jusqu'au midi. Je frcmis encore d'horreur en y songeant : 
 une fievre fort violente, grande oppression de poitrine, un furieux 
 mal de tcte, une toux seche, de grands maux de coeur, et un cours 
 •de ventre qui le faisait aller a la selle a tous moments. Depuis le 
 vendredi a midi, tout alia de bien en mieux ; son corps a etc tout 
 couvert de rougeole qui est ce qu'on peut desirer de mieux, que la 
 nature ait la force de chasser au dehors le venin, qui sans cela 
 •saisit et opprime le coeur, en quoi consiste tout le peril. Le Roi, 
 depuis I'heure que je dis, s'est senti lui-meme enticrement dcgage . . . 
 •et pour vous faire mieux comprendrc tout a la fois et de quelle 
 humeur est notre maitre et en quel etat est sa sante, c'est que ce 
 Prince, de la vie duquel les medecins n'auraient osc repondre le 
 vendredi un quart d'heure avant midi, travailla a son accoutume le 
 le samedi apres diner qui etait hier, trois heures durant, a ses affaires, 
 avec M. le Tellier et avec moi et nous sommes mandes pour y 
 retourner aujourd'hui a la meme heure, oCi je lirai a Sa Majeste 
 votre depeche du 28me, comme j'eus I'honneur de lui lire hier la 
 precedente qui etait du 24.mc. 
 
 [The King himself writes three days later:] Ouoiquc mon mal n'ait, 
 par la grace de Dieu, guere dure, il a etc assez violent pour m'oter 
 le moyen de repondre plus tot a vos deux derniercs dcpcches. [And 
 he at once resumes the discussion of the intended treatise, and his 
 
212 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 inquiries as to the doings of Charles with the Spaniard, June 6, 
 1663.] 
 
 6'], A Playful Letter of Louis. — To Cominges, June 6, 1663. 
 — Je ne pensais pas d'avoir choisi un Espagnol pourlui confier toutes 
 mes aiFaires en Angleterre et il faut que Fair de Londres soit bien 
 puissant pour avoir rendu castillan en si peu de temps le coeur que 
 je croyais le plus fran9ais et le plus zelc pour mon service. Je suis 
 pourtant si incorrigible qu'encore que vous ayez tourne casaque, je 
 ne veux pas changer mes premiers sentiments, et je suis resolu de 
 m'abandonner avec la meme confiance a ce cceur revoke j j'ai meme 
 donnc ordre ce matin au Sieur Colbert qu'il me presentat ce qui 
 regarde votre subsistance, s'il n'a pas deja ete fait avant que vous 
 m'en eussiez ccrit. Continuez cependant a servir le Roi mon 
 beau-pere de la meme fa9on que vous avez fait jusqu'ici et j'en 
 serai tres satisfait, tant j'ai d'afFection pour ses interets. 
 
 68. Lady Castlemaine and Miss Stewart. — Ruvigny to LouiSy 
 June 25, 1663. — Ce parti [z>., the Castlemaine's] va declinant ; il 
 en est de meme de Mad^ de 'Castlemer'; on n'y demeure plus 
 que par habitude et on ne doute plus que Mile. Stewart n'aitprissa 
 place. Elle ne communia point a la Pentecote, qui est une marque 
 assuree de leur derniere intelligence, a ce que m'ont dit les meilleurs 
 catholiques. II \t.e., Charles] la voit le plus secretement qu'il peut 
 et c'est une des plus belles filles et des plus modestes qui se puisse 
 voir. 
 
 69. Sir William Temple. — Cominges to Lionne, June 25, 1663. 
 — Ledit Chevalier Temple est un homme d'autant plus dangereux 
 qu'il a beaucoup d'esprit et de credit. II est fils d'un homme du 
 meme genie qui a toujours fait parler de lui dans son temps. 
 
 70. Court News. — Cominges to Louis, July 5, 1663. — Le 
 Parlement est sur le point de se dissoudre avec la satisfaction de 
 tout le monde. Sitot apres, le Roi partira pour Plymouth et 
 viendra trouver la Reine aux eaux, qui est presentement dans les 
 remedcs pour se preparer a les bien prendre et en tirer meme 
 quelque avantage pour le sujet que I'y mene. On espere que le 
 Roi s'y trouvant sans distraction pourrait la ramener grosse. 
 
APPENDIX. 213 
 
 [There has been of late a] grande querellc entrc les Dames, 
 jusque la que Ic Roi mena9a la Dame ou il soupe tous les soirs 
 [/.^., Lady Castlemaine] de ne mettre jamais le pied chez elle si la 
 Demoiselle {i.e.. Miss Stewart] n'y etait. Cela fait qu'elle ne la 
 quitte plus. 
 
 71. Bristol's Speech in the Lower House. — Ruvigny to Louis., 
 July 16, 1663. — [Charles and Bristol discuss the latter's harangue 
 together.] La reponse du Comte de Bristol fut audacieusc ; son 
 maitre lui dit assez bcnignement qu'il ferait un pauvre Roi s'il ne 
 pouvait ranger un Comte de Bristol. Dieu preserve V. M. de 
 pareils sujets et de si peu de puissance ! Le Roi d'Angleterre 
 attendra la fin du Parlement qui durera encore quinze jours pour 
 donner des ordres au Comte de Bristol, qui peut-etre ne passeront 
 pas la rigueur d'un commandement de se retirer de la Cour. II a 
 demande au Roi son maitre la permission d'accuser au Parlement 
 M. le Chancelier du crime de lese-majestc. II lui a defendu, mais 
 en meme temps il lui a permis de lui dire tout ce qu'il savait contre 
 lui. II lui a repondu qu'il n'en pouvait parler qu'au Parlement. 
 
 Je sais qu'il a dit a un de ses amis . . . qu'assurement il ac- 
 cuserait le Chancelier au Parlement. 
 
 72. Thanks for Court News. — Louis to Cominges., J^h ^9» 
 1663. — Je serai bien aise que vous continuiez a prendre soin, comme 
 vous I'aviez commence, de m'envoyer toujours un papier des nouvelles 
 les plus curieuses de la Cour ou vous etes. 
 
 [And again :] J'ai re9u vos depeches des 8me. et i ime. du courant 
 avec le papier que vous y avez joint des avis de la Cour, que j'ai 
 vu avec plaisir, comme j'en aurai beaucoup que vous continuiez a 
 prendre le meme soin sur les matieres les plus importantes. July 
 21, 1663. 
 
 ']T^. Clarendon Charged with High Treason by Bristol. — • 
 Cominges to Louis, July 23, 1663. — Rien ne me parait plus surpre- 
 nant, ni plus extraordinaire que I'afFaire dont j'ai a entretenir Votre 
 Majeste, et je suis assure qu'Elle n'en sera pas peu surprise, quand 
 il faudra, pour en trouver des exemples qu'Elle reflechisse sa memoire 
 au siccle des violences de Sylla, des emportements des Gracchcs et 
 
2T4 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 de I'accusation que fit Cesar (qui n'etait alors que particulier) 
 centre Dolabella qui exer^ait la plus haute magistrature. ... 
 
 [Various persons interpose to stop Bristol, but in vain.] Si 
 jusques ici V. M. a vu la conduite d'un homme presomptueux que la 
 vanite avait aveugle, Elle le va voir maintenant comme un chien 
 enrage qui s'attaque indifFcremment a tout le monde. 
 
 [Bristol concludes his speech, saying] que, apres cette action, il 
 etait tout pret de sacrifier sa vie a son maitre, et de tendre son. 
 cstomac a I'cpee de Monsieur le Due d'York. ... 
 
 Voila un proces dans les formes, entre un particulier et le 
 Chancelier appuye de sa dignite, de ses services, de la bonne volonte^ 
 du Roi, et celle de la Reine-mere, du Due d'York (dont Madame sa 
 femme accoucha hier d'un gar9on) de tous les courtisans : et 
 cependant il se promene sur le pave comme un autre et ne 
 desespere pas d'un bon succes. J'avoue a Votre Majeste que je 
 perds la tramontane et que je crois etre plus loin que le cercle de 
 la lune. 
 
 74. Personal Freedom in England. — Bristol. — Co?ninges to 
 Lionne^ July 23, 1663. — Vous verrez dans la depeche que je fais a 
 S. M. les vapeurs qui s'cleverent sur le soir, qui se convertirent le 
 vendredi en foudres et en tempete. Je vous avoue. Monsieur, que 
 rien au monde n'est plus surprenant que ce qui se voit en cette Cour 
 et qui tombe moins sous le sens d'un homme nourri sous une autre 
 politique et sous d'autres lois. Je m'imagine a tout moment etre 
 transporte aux antipodes, quand je vois un particulier se promener par 
 les rues, assister comme juge dans le Parlement, etre visite de sa 
 cabale et n'en pas faire une moins bonne vie apres avoir accuse 
 de crimes capitaux le premier officier de I'Etat parfaitement bien 
 auprcs du Roi son maitre, appuye de la Reine-mere et beau-pere 
 du fils de la maison. 
 
 [Clarendon, however, causes Bellings to write to Lionne to say] 
 qu'il esperait que vous n'auriez pas plus mauvaise opinion de lui 
 apres ces accusations (July 24, 1663). 
 
 75. A Literary Dinner at the French Embassy ; Huygens, 
 HoBBEs, AND SoRBiEREs. — Cominges to LioTine^ y^b ^3» I ^^3* — 
 
 Dans deux jours Messieurs de ' Zulchom,' 'd'Hobbes,' et de 
 
APPENDIX. 215 
 
 Sorbi^res doivcnt diner chez moi : cc ne sera pas sans parler de 
 vous aprcs que nous aurons fait le panegyrique de notre maitre. Le 
 bonhomme Mr. Hobbes est amoureux de Sa personne; il me fait 
 tous les jours mille demandes sur Son sujet, qui finissent toujours 
 par une exclamation et par des souhaits dignes de lui. Comme 
 souvent il a pris envie a S. M. de faire du bien a ces sortes de gens, 
 je nc craindrai pas de dire que jamais il ne peut etre mieux employe 
 que en celui-ci. On peut le nommer Assertor Regum, comme il 
 parait parses oeuvres, mais du notre il en fait son heros. Si tout cela 
 pouvait attirer quelque libcralite, je vous prie que je puisse en etre 
 le distributeur ; je la saurai bien faire valoir, et je ne crois pas que 
 jamais bienfait puisse etre mieux colloque.- 
 
 76. Personal Liberty. — Bristol. — Cominges to Lionne, July 26, 
 1663. — Cependant le Comte de Bristol joue tous les jours au 
 * Boulaingrain,' et le jour meme qu'il causa tout ce sabat, il maria 
 son fils aine, homme de moindre que mediocre talent a la fille d'un 
 avocat, grand ami de feu Cromwell, qui lui donne dix mille jaco- 
 bus argent comptant, dix mille a la naissance du premier enfant, 
 et dix mille apr^s sa mort, qui est un grand mariage, surtout n'ayant 
 qu'un fils qui peut mourir. 
 
 77. The Literary Dinner at the French Embassy. — Lionne to 
 Cominges^ Aug. i, 1663. — Je voudrais bien avoir pu faire le qua- 
 trieme de vos convives en ce diner que vous deviez donner a 
 Messieurs de Zulichem, Hobbes, et de Sorbieres. Je vols grande 
 disposition au Roi de gratifier le second, mais n'engagez point Sa 
 Majeste a rien que je ne vous le mande plus prccisement. Si on 
 prend la resolution de lui donner quelque chose, il ne passera 
 que par vos mains. Sa Majeste s'en est deja expliquee de la 
 sorte. 
 
 78. Bristol. — Lionne's Astonishment. — Lionne to Cominges^ 
 Aug. 5, 1663. — J'admire de plus en plus la hardiesse, pour ne pas 
 dire pis, du Comte de Bristol, et que Ton ne puisse rien lui dire 
 ni lui rien faire. Si quelqu'un avait attaque ici M. le Chancelier 
 au Parlemcnt, vous croyez bien qu'il ne jouerait pas tous les jours 
 au boulain grain et qu'il y aurait peu de presse d'avoir son 
 alliance. 
 
2i6 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 79. Louis's Thirst for Information. — Lionne to Comingei, Aug. 
 5, 1663. — Quoique je fasse toujours voir au Roi Ics lettrcs particu- 
 lieres dont vous m'honorez et qu'il semblerait, ccla etant, que ce 
 fut la meme chose d'ecrire a S. M. ou a moi, puisqu'Elle est tou- 
 jours egalement bien informee, il faut, s'il vous plait, ecrire toujours 
 directement a S. M., quand meme vous n'auriez d'autre chose a lui 
 mander que de I'avertir que vous n'en avez aucune matiere, et a moi 
 seulement trois lignes pour I'adresse du paquet. Ce qui m'a fait 
 juger qu'il vaut mieux en user de la sorte, c'est que, quand j'ai lu 
 a S. M. la derniere lettre dont vous m'avez favorise, Elle me de- 
 manda pourquoi vous n'ecriviez pas plutot a Elle ; a quoi je 
 repartis que c'etait peut etre par defaut de matiere assez importante 
 . . . mais il me sembla que S. M. ne se paya pas entierement de 
 cette raison et qu'Elle aimait mieux que vous en usassiez autre- 
 ment. Vous lui ferez aussi grand plaisir de continuer ce que vous 
 aviez commence si galamment, en lui envoyant dans un feuillet 
 separe les nouvelles de la Cour les plus curieuses. 
 
 80. The Bristol Affair. — Disquiet in the Provinces. — Co- 
 minges to Louis, Aug. <), 1663. — Quelques personnes assez sense'es 
 . . . ne seraient point d'avis que I'on poussat cette affaire que, 
 premierement I'on eut un peu apaise et separe les cabales des pro- 
 vinces, qui avaient alarme la Cour au point que j'ai vu M. le Due 
 de * Bouquinkan ' pret a monter a cheval pour s'en aller dans la 
 duche d'York qui est son Gouvernement et quelques autres seign- 
 eurs aussi ; neanmoins il fut retardc par le Roi. J'etais chez lui 
 quand il en re9ut I'ordre. 
 
 81. A Purchase of Arabs for the Galleys. — Lionne to Cominges, 
 Aug. 12, 1663. — L'abbe de Montaigu . . . nous assure de la prise 
 de trois mille maures. En tout cas, s'il se trouvait qu'il eut dit 
 vrai, le Roi voudrait bien que vous iissiez en sorte que le Roi 
 d'Angleterre lui fit present d'une partie de ces maures pour mettre 
 dans ses galeres et qu'il lui vendit I'autre ; ou qu'cnfin si vous ne 
 pouviez obtenir de gratification, vous fissiez en sorte d'avoir tous 
 ces maures ou la meilleure partie pour de I'argent. II faudrait 
 toujours assurer qu'il ne les donnera pas a d'autres et apres nous 
 nous defendrions du prix, et quand meme il n'y en aurait que le 
 nombre que vous avez mande, on ne laissera pas d'y entendre. 
 
APPEJ^DIX. 217 
 
 82. TuNBRiDGE Wells. — Cominges* Sheet of Court News, Aug.^ 
 1663. — La solitude se trouve maintcnant dans Tune des plus 
 grandes villes du monde. L'on n'y voit ni dames ni courtisaiis, les 
 seigneurs s'etant retires et, sans avoir aucune complaisance pour 
 ceux qui restent, ils ont cmmenc leurs femmes. 
 
 La Reine, avec sa cour, qui est asscz nombreuse, est toujours a 
 Tunbridge ou les eaux n'ont rien produit de ce que Ton avait 
 espcre. On pcut les nommer les eaux de scandale, puisqu'elles 
 ont pense ruiner les femmes et les filles de reputation (j'entends 
 celles qui n'avaient pas leurs maris). II a fallu un mois entier et 
 a quelques unes davantage, pour justifier leur conduite et mettre 
 leur honneur a couvert, et meme Ton dit qu'il s'en trouve encore 
 quelques unes qui ne sont pas hors d'affaire. Cela fait que la Cour 
 reviendra dans huit jours apres avoir laisse une des dames de la 
 Reine pour les gages. 
 
 L'on scjournera ici quelques jours pour se refaire et pour prendre 
 de nouvelles forces pour Ic voyage des bains [Bath] qui sont a 80 
 milles d'ici. Enfin on veut tenter toute sorte de moyens pour 
 donner un successeur a I'Angleterre, le Roi contribuant de sa part 
 tout ce que l'on peut demander d'une veritable affection et d'une 
 assiduite regulicre. 
 
 [Somewhat later] les mcdecins mandercnt que la Reine etait 
 groLse, mais nous apprenons a leur honte qu'ils se sont grossiere- 
 ment trompes. [The symptoms] etaient un pur effet des eaux 
 qu'elle prend, qui sont vitriolees et par consequent excitent le 
 vomissement. 
 
 83. Court News. — Gramont. — Cominges' Sheet of Court 
 News, Aug., 1663. — Le chevalier de Gramont continue sa 
 maniere ordinaire dans la galanterie, qui est de faire plus de bruit 
 que de besogne . . . [II] est tellcment satisfait et content des 
 avantages qu'il a tires de la galanterie qu'il en veut faire le fonde- 
 ment de sa conduite pour le reste de ses jours. Mais comme il a 
 tres bien jugc que son age devenait un trcs grand obstacle a tous 
 ses plaisirs imaginaires, il a resolu de s'en etablir de solides par le 
 mariage. Pour cet effet, il a jetc les yeux sur une belle et jeune 
 •demoiselle de la maison d'Hamilton, niece du due d'Ormond, 
 ornce de toutes les graces de la vertu et de la noblesse, mais telle- 
 
2i8 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 ment disgraciee du cote des biens de la fortune que ceux qui lui 
 donnent le plus nc lui donnent rien. 
 
 Je crois que le chevalier, dans le commencement n'avait pas 
 dessein de pousser I'afFaire si loin ; mais, soit que la conversation 
 ait acheve cc qu'avait commence la beaute, ou que le bruit qu'ont 
 fait deux freres assez facheux y ait ajoute quelque chose, sa 
 declaration s'est faite publiquement. Le Roi y donne son con- 
 sentment et, en faveur du pretendu mariage, laisse espcrer fonder 
 la cuisine, par quelque pension ou autres moyens, si I'occasion s'en 
 presente. 
 
 Cependant, comme j'ai vu que ce mariage se rendait le sujet de 
 la raillerie de toute la Cour, et que chacun en parlait scion son 
 caprice, je me suis hasarde de faire mes efforts pour le rompre ou 
 du moins le detourner pour quelque temps, mais le tout fort inutile- 
 ment, et je ne vois plus de rem.ede a un mal resolu, conseille par 
 un aveugle et execute par un malade. II m'a voulu faire passer 
 mille faux raisonnements pour bons que je n'ai pas voulu recevoir ; 
 il en a fait de meme des miens, et le temps lui apprendra lesquels 
 sont les meilleurs. Je souhaite pour son repos que ce soient les 
 siens, mais il n'y a guere d'apparence. 
 
 84. The Third and Fifth Monarchy. — Cominges to Lionne^ 
 Sept. 27, 1663. — Depuis six jours Ton enterra un ministre de 
 I'opinion de la troisieme monarchic, qui fut accompagne de plus 
 de dix mille hommes. . . . 
 
 [Lionne having inquired w^hat was the third monarchy, Cominges 
 answers] : Ce n'est pas sans raison que vous me demandez quel- 
 que eclaircissement sur I'opinion de la troisieme monarchic. Elle 
 n'a d'autre auteur ni d'autre sectateur que mon secretaire ou moi, 
 qui, par surdite ou par meprise, lui avons donne I'etre. Mais je 
 I'etoufFe en son berceau et adopte en sa place la cinquieme mon- 
 archic, qui est celle des justes, sous laquelle le monde doit finir, 
 assez semblable a I'opinion des millenaires, auxquels se joignent 
 les anabaptistes, les " Kakers," et beaucoup d'autres extravagants. 
 . . . Ce furent ces gens qui rendirent si celebre la pompe funebre 
 du predicant. (Oct. 15, 1663.) 
 
 85. Bristol's Popularity. — Cofninges to Lionne^ Oct. 8, 1663. — 
 La Cour sera ici jeudi avec tout le conseil. |e ne sais si elle fera 
 
APPENDIX. 219 
 
 cesser Ic bruit qui court que le comtc do Bristol est dans la ville^ 
 et I'insolence du peuple qui boit a sa santc publiquement, comme 
 au champion dc la patric. 
 
 86. A Tuscan Envoy. — Cominges to Lionne, Oct. 8, 1663. — 
 Pour I'Envoyc de Toscane . . . il a paru ici comme un homme 
 interdit et peu accoutume a I'emploi qu'il avait. . . . Jamais mar- 
 chand de la Rue aux fers qui se marie n'eut un habit de si belle 
 ni de si boufFante etofFe ; avec cela le bas de laine mal tire, un 
 grand collet tout simple et de fort grandes plumes blanches. 
 
 87. A Royal Visit to Oxford. — Cominges to Louis, Oct. i6y 
 1663. — La Cour n'est point de retour de son progres ; c'est ainsi 
 que Ton parle ici. Elle doit arriver aujourd'hui a Oxford ou elle 
 doit sejourner quatre jours dans les divertissements que peut 
 donner une universite, dont les acteurs ne sont pas pour I'ordinaire 
 de la plus agrcable ni de la meilleure compagnie du monde. L'on 
 parle de diverses comedies, de plusieurs harangues, de panegyriques, 
 d'epithalames ou le grec, le latin, Thebreu, I'arabe, le syriaque 
 seront les langues les plus connues. Je suis assure qu'aprcs tous 
 ces mauvais divertissements Ton sera bien aise de retourner a 
 Whitehall pour en prendre de plus agreables. 
 
 88. Louis's Opinion of the Grand Council of Spain. — Louis to 
 Cominges, Oct. ij, 1663. — Ce conseil d'Espagne qui s'attribue la 
 qualitc d'eternel parce qu'il ne change jamais de maximes et va 
 toujours constamment a son but jusqu'a ce qu'il y soit parvenu, du 
 moins a I'egard des Puissances inferieures, car, avec I'aide de Dieu, 
 il m'a reussi de mettre un peu en desordre ces grandes maximes,. 
 ce conseil, dis-je. . . . 
 
 89. French Quarrel with Rome. — Louis to Cominges, Oct. 17, 
 1663. — II n'est pas vrai qu'on ait trouve aucun interdit contre ce 
 Royaume dans les papiers du vice-legat. On a bien dit, apres sa 
 retraite, qu'il avait ordre d'interdire la ville d'Avignon en partant, 
 mais on lui en a otc le moyen en le surprenant, bien que, quand il 
 aurait eu la commodite de jeter cette censure, elle n'aurait eu nul 
 effet, et aurait etc mal executce. 
 
 90. Sale of Slaves by the Royal Guinea Company. — Cominges 
 
2 20 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 .to Lionne, Oct. i8, 1663. — Comme le principal commerce de cette 
 Compagnie consiste en esclaves, j'ai cru vous en devoir donner 
 avis, parcc que Ton nous en fournirait en peu de temps ce qui 
 nous serait necessaire pour renforcer la chiourme de nos galeres. 
 Mais je vous dirai aussi que, bien que ce soient de grands et de 
 forts hommes, que je les soup9onnerais bien peu propres a larame; 
 ■et, de plus, ils sont si opiniatres qu'ils se laissent mourir trcs volon- 
 tiers plutot que de travailler. En tous cas, si vous le jugez a 
 propos. Ton pourrait en essayer une centainc et, par ceux la, juger 
 des autres. 
 
 91. Louis's Cooling Card to Cominges. — Oct. 28, 1663. — 
 "Ouand vous reprendrez vos conferences, ayez toujpurs bien present 
 a I'esprit ce que je vous ai tant recommande, de traiter avec grande 
 moderation, sans chaleur ni emportement. Je sais que cela est 
 difficile a un zele ardent comme le votre, qui trouve aux autres 
 line maniere de negocier fort desagrcable ; mais vous aurez 
 •d'autant plus de merite d'avoir pu vous contenir, et votre prudence 
 en eclatera davantage, meme parmi eux, puisqu'ils verront assez 
 que, si vous voulez bien souffrir leurs hauteurs, ce n'est pas le 
 mauvais etat de mes affaires qui m'y oblige. 
 
 92. Character OF Charles II. — Illness of his Wife. — Cominges 
 to Louis, Nov. I, 1663. — Je sors presentement de Whitehall, ou 
 j'ai laisse la Reine dans un etat ou, selon le jugement des medecins, 
 il y a peu de chose a esperer. Elle a re9u I'extreme onction ce 
 matin. . . . 
 
 Les Portugais sont ici en fort mauvaise odeur et I'Ambassadeur 
 n'est pas exempt de calomnies. On les accuse, et lui principale- 
 ment, d'avoir contribuc par sa mauvaise conduite a la mort de la 
 Reine, lui ayant fait passer deux nuits sans dormir, I'une a faire 
 son testament et I'autre a recevoir les adieux de tous ses domes- 
 tiques. II est vrai que, pour la satisfaire. Ton la laissa trois ou 
 quatre jours entre leurs mains, mais le Roi ayant reconnu qu'ils 
 contribuaient a son mal et mcme qu'ils lui faisaient prendre beau- 
 coup de remedes de leur pays, rompit ce commerce. 
 
 Nonobstant les petits relaches qu'elle a de temps en temps, je 
 ■dcsespere tout-a-fait de sa personne. . . . Le Roi me parait fort 
 
APPENDIX. 22 r 
 
 affligc. II soupa ncanmoins hicr au soir chez Madame dc Castle- 
 mainc et eutses conversations ordinaircs avec Mademoiselle Stewart 
 dont il est fort amoureux. L'on parle dcja de le marier. Chacun 
 lui donne une femme scion son inclination et il s'en trouve qui ne 
 la cherchent pas hors d'Angleterre. 
 
 93. Breach of Etiquette at the Lord Mayor's. — Cominges to 
 Louis, Nov. 9, 1663. — Le maitre des ceremonies prit le soin de 
 venir me prendre a huit heures, afin de me faire voir le commence- 
 ment de la ceremonie, qui se fait sur I'eau. De la il me conduisit 
 dans la grandc rue ou il m'avait fait preparer une chambre, afin 
 que plus commodement je visse la cavalcade qui ne fut pas si tot 
 passee que je montai en carrosse pour prendre lea devants par les 
 rues detournees. J'arrivai une demi-heure devant le Maire ; je 
 fus re9u a la maison de ville avec tout I'acceuil imaginable ; I'on 
 m'ouvrit la porte pour faire entrer mes carrosses ; je fus salue de 
 la pique et du drapeau par les officiers qui se trouverent a ma 
 descente. Incontinent, je fus re^u par d'autres bourgeois qui me 
 remirent sous la conduite d'autres, et ainsi de lieu en lieu, Ton me 
 conduisit jusques a la salle du festin, ou je trouvai M. le Chancelier 
 et le Conseil du Roi qui etaient deja a table. Je fus surpris de cette 
 grossicre incivilite. Ncanmoins, pour eviter de faire une affaire, je 
 pris le parti de donner lieu a ces Messieurs de reparer cette faute 
 si elle s'etait faite par ignorance ou par megarde, ou d'cluder leur 
 malice par un proccde franc et hardi. Je marchai droit a eux, a 
 dessein de leur faire une raillerie de leur bon appetit ; mais je les 
 trouvai si froids et si interdits que je jugeai a propos de m^e retirer, 
 le Chancelier et tous les assistants ne s'etant pas seulement leves 
 pour me recevoir, a la reserve de Bennet, qui me dit quelque chose 
 a quoi je repondis avec mepris. 
 
 94. Excuses of the Lord Mayor. — Cominges to Louis, Nov. 12,, 
 1663. — Le lendemain a 11 heures, on m'avertit que le Maire ctait 
 parti pour me faire visite ; il arriva un moment aprcs, suivi de dix 
 ou douze carrosses et une assez grande troupe de peuple qui suivit 
 ce cortege par curiosite. II entra chez moi avec les marques de 
 sa dignitc, c'cst-a-dire, I'epee [etc., etc.]. II arrcta un moment 
 dans ma salle basse, pcut-ctre en intention que je I'y allasse rece- 
 
222 A FJ^ENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 voir, mais un de mes secretaires lui ayant dit qu'il y avait du feu 
 dans la salle haute et que je n'etais par acheve d'habiller, ayant 
 employe toute la matinee a faire mes depeches, il monta en haut, 
 et sit6t je I'allai prendre, pour le conduirc dans ma salle d'audience. 
 Je ne voulus point I'entendre qu'il ne fut assis. D'abord il me 
 temoigna, qu'il etait bien fache qu'il ne pouvait s'expliquer en 
 fran9ais, mais qu'il avait amene un interprete. . . . 
 
 Je conduisis le Maire jusques a son carrosse, lui donnant toujours 
 la porte, mais conservant toujours la main droite. Le tout se passa 
 avec satisfaction des deux cotes. 
 
 95. The Guildhall Banquet. — Another Cooling Card to 
 CoMiNGES. — Louis to Cominges, Nov. 18, 1663. — Avant toutes 
 choses, je veux vous temoigner, pour votre satisfaction, que je 
 reconnais fort bien que ce qui vous est arrive est un de ces 
 incidents que toute la prudence humaine ne saurait prevoir ni 
 empecher, et que vous aviez meme pris vos precautions et toutes 
 vos suretes au dela de ce qui paraissait nccessaire ; comme aussi 
 que j'ai entierement approuve tout ce que vous avez fait depuis la 
 chose arrivee. . . . 
 
 Apres cela je vous dirai deux choses touchant I'accommodement 
 de cette affaire, Tune que je le desire et ai interet de le dcsirer . . . 
 afin que les Espagnols ne puissent prendre aucun avantage de cette 
 petite brouillerie ... la seconde que, comme il ne parait pas qu'il 
 y ait eu aucun dessein forme de vous faire une supercherie ou une 
 injure. . . . je ne crois pas que mon honneur m'oblige a desirer 
 les mcmes reparations que je devrais demander si je voyais qu'il y 
 eut eu un dessein premedite de m'offenser en votre personne, — 
 outre que I'etat de mes affaires, ni mon humeur, que je pense que 
 I'on connait assez desormais n'etre pas fort souffrante, ne laissera a 
 mon sens aucune impression dans le monde a mon desavantage, 
 quand je ne pousserai pas ma satisfaction au dernier point ou je la 
 pourrai faire aller, si je m'etais bien mis dans I'esprit de le pre- 
 tendrc. 
 
 J'ai dcja souvent declare, touchant les dcmcles que j'ai avec la 
 Cour de Rome qu'il n'est pas au pouvoir des Rois et potentats 
 d'empecher qu'il n'arrive parfois des inconvenients dans leur Etat 
 par des cas fortuits que toute la prevoyance des hommes ne saurait 
 empecher. 
 
APPENDIX. 223 
 
 96. CoMiNGES IN Idleness. — To Louis^ Dec. 3, 1663. — Ces grands 
 cvcncments qui changcnt souvent la face dcs Etats, qui font 
 parlcr Ics moins eloquents et qui donnent de la matiere aux 
 Ambassadeurs d'entretentir leurs maitres ne sont pas des fruits de 
 la paix ni de Toisivcte dans laquclle il scmble que cette Cour soit 
 ensevelie. Comme elle n'a prescntcmcnt aucune affaire qui la 
 presse au dehors, elle ne s'occupe qu'aux choses du dedans, sans 
 faire reflexion que les avenues bien gardees laissent dormir le 
 camp en repos. L'on n'y voit rien de nouveau et a peine le 
 soleil, qui est aussi vicux que le mondc, y laisse-t-il entrcvoir sa 
 lumicre. 
 
 97. CoMiNGEs's Classical Tastes. — To Lionne, Dec. 3, 1663. — 
 [Cominges finds himself in a country] ou I'oisivete regne comme 
 dans son trone. Si je n'aimais I'etude, je serais le plus malhcureux 
 de tous les hommes, mais je fais conversation avec tous les plus 
 honnctcs gens de I'antiquite, qui ont assez de complaisance pour 
 souffrir que je les quitte et les reprcnne, sans leur faire civilite ni 
 excuses. Ce qui me console, c'est que je ne me ruine point avec 
 eux et que, sans les apauvrir, je puis m'enrichir le leurs depouilles, 
 qui me rendront dignes de paraitre un jour devant vous en assez 
 bon equipage. 
 
 98. Bargaining for Slaves with the Guinea Company. — 
 Cominges to Louis, Dec. 3, 1663. — J'ai demandc cent hommes 
 depuis Page de 27 ans jusques a 35, sains de leurs corps et entiers 
 de leurs membres, rendus a Toulon ; et Ton demande deux cents 
 ecus la piece, la moitic de la somme payee a I'avance a Londres le 
 jour du traitc, et I'autre a Toulon, remettant les esclaves, me 
 voulant encore rendrc garant des risques de la mer, qui feraient 
 naitre I'occasion de mille chicanes. Je ne vois pas que ce parti soit 
 a recevoir puisque, a Ligourne, Ton peut en avoir a cent ecus et 
 quatre cents francs et sans comparaison meilleurs. 
 
 99. Prophecying. — Comitiges to Lionne, Dec. 10, 1663. — Voici 
 le pays des prophctes ; nous av^ons un autre Jercmie que ne parle 
 que de fcux et de flammes : on I'a mis en prison. L'autre dit qu'il 
 a eu une vision de Dieu par laquclle il lui a fait voir Ic jour du 
 jugemcnt, le lieu et Ic nombrc ct la qualite dcs predestines: celui- 
 
224 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 la s'est contentc de six Jacobus pour aller prechcr cos revelations 
 hors de Londres. • 
 
 100. CoMiNGEs IN A Graver Mood. — To LioTine, Dec. 24, 1663. — 
 Mon age ne me permet plus ces inutiles occupations, et ce qui me 
 reste de temps a vivre, je veux I'employer a mourir, regardant le 
 passe pour le dctester, et I'avenir pour I'eternite. Oue vous semble, 
 Monsieur, de ces reflexions ? Ne sont elles pas chretiennes et ne 
 valent elles pas raieux que celles de certaines gens qui, a cinquante 
 ans, volent le papillon et vont se bruler a la moindre lumiere, qui 
 les eblouit ? Je n'ai que trop longtemps suivi de si mauvais 
 exemples. 
 
 1 01. Conversion of the Lady Castlemaine. — Cominges to 
 Lionne, Dec. 31, 1663. — Le mariage du Chevalier de Gramont et 
 la conversion de Madame de Castlemaine se sont publics en meme 
 
 .jour, et le Roi d'Angleterre etant prie par les parents de la Dame 
 d'apporter quelque obstacle a cette action, il repondit galamment 
 que, pour I'ame des Dames, il ne s'en melait point. 
 
 102. Gramont Altered for the Worse. — Co?ninges to Lionney 
 Jan. 28, 1665. — M. le Chevalier de Gramont est arrive depuis 
 deux mois ; il n'a point change depuis le mariage, si ce n'est qu'il 
 est devenu le plus efFronte menteur du monde. 
 
 103. English Politics. — Cominges to Louis, Feb. 4, 1664. — Si 
 Aristote, qui s'est mele de dcfinir jusqu'aux moindres choses de la 
 politique revenait au monde, il ne saurait trouver des termes pour 
 expliquer ce gouvernement. Veritablement, le monarchique y 
 parait sous le nom du Roi ; mais, dans le fait, rien moins que 
 cela. . . . Savoir, si la raison en provient des lois fondamentales 
 du royaume ou du peu d'application du monarque, c'est la oil git la 
 difiicultc. ... II est vrai que la disposition des lois de ce royaume 
 a mis un tel temperament entre le Roi et ses sujets qu'il semble 
 qu'ils soient joints par des liens indissolubles et que la separation 
 de I'une des parties entraine la ruine de I'autre. 
 
 [Charles is far too kind.] La Cour est divisce en quatre ou cinq 
 cabales. Le Roi qui devrait les dissiper toutcs. . . . se trouve a 
 la tete de la plus faible. [Women play such a part in everything] 
 
APPENDIX. 225 
 
 que Ton pcut dire que les Anglais sont veritablement esclaves de 
 leurs femmes et de Icurs mattresses. 
 
 104. Fanshaw's departure for Spain as Ambassador. — Cominges 
 to Lionne, Feb. 4, 1664. — II y a quatre jours que M. Fancho est 
 parti pour son Ambassade d'Espagne, dans un des plus superbes 
 vaisseaux du Roi son maitre. Je crois que, par vanite, il voulut 
 passer devant ma porte, afin que je visse son cortege qui I'a accom- 
 pagnc jusqu'a son bord. II etait dans un carrosse du Roi, escorte 
 de douze hommes a cheval et suivi de vingt carrosses a six chevaux. 
 II emmene un equipage de Jean de Paris, sans parler de quantitc 
 de jeunes gentilshommes qui I'accompagnent par curiosite. Le 
 Roi lui a fait donner, en pret seulement, quatre tentures de fort 
 belle tapisserie et quantitc de vases et autres ustensiles en vermeil 
 dore. . . . Le peuple qui le suivait en foule, tcmoigna beaucoup de 
 joie a son embarquement et fit de grands voeux pour I'heureux 
 succes de sa negociation. 
 
 105. Beating previous records in a Journey to Bantam. — 
 Cominges to Lionney Feb. 21, 1664. — Depuis trois ou quatre jours 
 est arrive aux Dunes un navire qui vient de * Bantan ' et qui a 
 fait un voyage dans I'espace d'un an, chose inouie jusqu'a 
 present. 
 
 106. Character of the Duchess of York. — Cominges to LouiSy 
 April 'jy 1664. — Le chancelier. . . . a un tres puissant second en 
 Madame la Duchesse d'York sa fille, qui est aussi brave femme — le 
 mot d'honnete ne m'a pas semble assez fort, — que j'en aie connu 
 de ma vie, et qui soutient avec autant de courage, d'adresse et de 
 fermete le poste ou elle est que si elle etait du sang des rois, ou du 
 moins Gusman ou Mendoce. 
 
 107. Scurvy. — Cominges to Lionne, April 17, 1664. — Le scjour 
 de ce pays ici ne vaut rien. . . . J'y suis quasi devenu paralytique 
 et je suis particulierement attaque d'une maladie que I'on appelle 
 scorbut qui est ici fort ordinaire. Toutes les dents me branlent et 
 Ton me fait esperer que ce ne sera rien, et que j'en serai quitte a 
 cette fois pour cinq ou six. La consolation n'est-elle pas agrcable ? 
 Apres y avoir fait reflexion, j'ai trouvc que, si j'etais malade plus de 
 
 15 
 
2 26 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 quatre fois, que je m'en retournerais sans une seule dent dans la 
 bouche. 
 
 io8. The Earl of Pembroke prophecying. — Tenebr^ at the 
 French Embassy. — Cominges to Lionne, April 17, 1664. — La curio- 
 site que j'ai de prendre quelque connaissance des choses qui se 
 passent dans le monde m'a attire les visites du Comte de Pem- 
 broke. . . . Ce seigneur, qui n'a non plus de malice qu'un 
 mouton. . . . est tellement plein et coifFe de toutcs les revelations 
 dont je vous ai entretenu ces jours passes, et a une telle envie que 
 chacun soit aussi egare de bon sens qu'il Test, qu'il emploie toute 
 sa plus fine rhetorique a me jeter dans son parti. ... II est con- 
 vaincu que vous etes un parfaitement honnete homme, capable des 
 plus grandes choses, mais il dit que ces grandes qualites ne suffisent 
 pas, et que beaucoup d'excellents personnages qui les possedcnt 
 traitent le plus souvent toutes les propheties de ridicules. Je lui 
 avouai sinccrement que je vous croyais un peu touchc de cette 
 maladie, et que Ton aurait assez de peine a rcduire votre esprit a 
 une soumission aveugle. . . . Voila le seul divertissement que j'aie 
 en Angleterre, mais s'il continue je suis resolu de quitter la 
 ville. . . . ces fols s'etant mis dans la tete de me persecuter et de 
 me vouloir eriger en prophete, qui, dans le bon sens, n'est autre 
 chose que de courir les rues, faire beaucoup de grimaces, repondre 
 hors de propos par monosyllabes, lever les yeux aux ciel, n'oter 
 point son chapeau et etre fort malpropre. . . . 
 
 C'est trop faire le fol dans la semaine sainte : il faut du moins 
 mettre quelque intervalle entre ces folies et les tcncbres que je 
 vais ouir. Le Roi m'a fait I'honneur de me preter sa musique 
 fran^aise, qui attire chez moi beaucoup de beau monde, et princi- 
 palement madame de Castlemaine, que je vas regaler de mon mieux. 
 
 109. Republican Possibilities. — Cominges to Louis ^ May ^^ \66^.. 
 — Si elle [i.e. the war against the Dutch] a un mauvais succes, ils 
 ne manqueront jamais de renouveler lamemoire des avantages qu'ils 
 ont emportes sur les Hollandais durant le temps de I'interregne, en 
 attribuant cette difference a la nature du gouverncment. lis 
 pourraient bien vouloir gouter une deuxieme fois de la Republique, 
 ce qui ne pent se faire sans boulevcrser toute I'cconomic dc I'Etat. 
 
APPENDIX. 227 
 
 no. America. — Cominges to Louis, June 9, 1664. — [The Royal 
 Guinea Company] fournit par le moyen de ses esclaves de quoi 
 faire valoir TAmeriquc, que les Anglais regardent aujourd'hui 
 comme leur fin principale. 
 
 111. Coming of the Legate to apologise for the Crequi 
 Outrage. — Corninges to Lionne, June 19, 1664. — Jouissez done a 
 loisir de la vue de Monseigneur de Legat qui vous fera, si je ne me 
 trompe, un trcs favorable acceuil, ayant autant travaille que vous 
 avez fait a sa mission. Sans ingratitude il ne saurait vous refuser 
 un bon nombre d'indulgences et de grains benits puisque, aprds les 
 cmportements de sa famille, et la fermetc du Roi, il vous doit 
 I'honneur d'un si beau et si magnifique emploi. S'il vous en tombe 
 sous la main — ^je ne dis pas des emplois— pje n'en veux pas de si 
 ruineux — envoyez m'en une bonne quantite, car voici un pays ou 
 Ton peut les employer, bien que la plus grande partie des hommes 
 et des femmes qui I'habitent n'en fassent guere d'etat. 
 
 112. Sufferings of the Irish. — Corninges to Lionne, June 23, 
 1664. — Le Roi de la Grande Bretagne, qui est naturellement tres 
 bon et tres juste souhaiterait qu'un chacun eut sujet de se louer et 
 pas un de sc plaindre, mais de quelque biais que Ton regarde 
 I'afFaire, elle est si remplie de difficultcs et si embrouillee par tant 
 d'actes du Parlement et par I'engagemeht que le Roi a fait de sa 
 parole, dans le traite de son retour, qu'il est impossible de trouver 
 un expedient d'en sortir a la satisfaction des parties interessees, 
 conservant le droit aux uns et la justice aux autres. . . . Les 
 chasscs sont faibles et les possesseurs puissants, ce qui assure pour 
 jamais la ruine totale et sans ressources de cette malheureuse 
 nation, qui pait I'herbe par la campagne et qui n'a plus d'autres 
 retraites que les bois et les cavernes:; cependant que leurs ennemis, 
 plus criminels qu'eux, triomphent de leur perte, et s'enrichissent dc 
 leurs dcpouilles. 
 
 113. Sorbieres Exiled for his Book on England. — Corninges 
 to Lionne, July 16, 1664. — La relegation du Sieur Sorbieres en 
 Basse Bretagne a ete fort bien imaginee, car nous n'en avons point 
 de bonne et veritable relation : il pourra s'occuper a la faire et 
 mcme a en apprendre la languc qui, paraissant si barbare, ne laisse 
 pas d'avoir des beautcs particulieres. 
 
228 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 114. Charles catches Cold in the 'DocKYAV^DS.—Cominges to 
 Lionne^ July 17, 1664. — Vous saurez qu'il y a quatre ou cinq jours 
 que le Roi avec les Reines allerent en berges voir les vaisseaux qui 
 sont sortis du port de Chatham et que, durant la grande ardeur du 
 soleil, le Roi quitta sa perruque et son pourpoint. A son retour, il 
 se trouva fort enrhume, ce qui obligea les medecins de le faire 
 saigner. Le lendemain il se trouva avec un peu de licvre et ce . 
 matin il a beaucoup sue et se trouve fort soulage. 
 
 115. Happy Results of Sorbieres's Exile. — Cominges to Louis, 
 July 21, 1664. — Sur I'avis que j'ai eu que quelques messieurs de 
 I'Academie \i.e. the Royal Society] aussi indiscrets que le Sr. de 
 Sorbicres aiguisaient leur plume pour faire reponse, j'en ai parle 
 au Roi de la Grande Bretagne, qui m'a promis de leur faire com- 
 mander de finir leur entreprise et de lui en apporter les materiaux 
 qu'ils avaient prepares, sur peine de punition. Si cette escarmouche 
 commen^ait, elle ne finirait jamais et ne ferait qu'irriter les deux 
 nations qui ne s'aiment deja pas trop, et qui^ont plus de besoin 
 d'etre radoucies par une bonne conduite qu'aigries par des reproches 
 et des injures. 
 
 116. Arrival of la belle Cominges.— C<?//?/;^^^J" to LminCy 
 Aug. 18, 1664. — Madame de Cominges est arrivee en bonne 
 santc ; elle a fait aujourd'hui ses premieres visites. Le Roi, les 
 Reines, Monsieur le Due et Madame la Duchesse I'envoyerent 
 visiter le meme jour de son arrivee et, depuis, le Roi, le Due et les 
 plus qualifies de la Cour lui ont fait I'honneur de la voir. Je vous 
 assure qu'elle ne fera point de honte a la nation. Je lui ai fait une 
 petite reprimande afin que sa dcpense extraordinaire ne tirat pas a 
 consequence pour I'avenir, et si, pour cette occasion, je n'en ai pas 
 ete fachc, ains au contraire le plus aise du monde, le Roi paiera 
 tout quand il lui plaira. 
 
 117. Stones from India. — Cominges to Louis ^ Aug. 18, 1664. — ■ 
 Les vaisseaux qui sont venus des Indes et principalement les deux 
 derniers, sont charges d'assez bonne marchandise, ainsi qu'il parait 
 par I'inventaire, mais, pour les presents envoyes au Roi, que Ton 
 faisait si magnifiques, il m'a fait I'honneur de me les montrer pour 
 s'en divertir. lis sont contcnus dans une petite bourse dc satin 
 
APPENDIX. 229 
 
 rouge cramoisi. II y a un caillou jaunc deux fois aussi gros que Ic 
 Sancy, d'une assez belle forme pour valoir un million, mais je crois 
 qu'il serait bien paye a un ecu blanc. II y a une autre pierre 
 rouge, que I'on nomme escarboucle qui me parait assez' belle, mais 
 j'en ai vu plusieurs semblables sur des reliquaires, ce qui me fait 
 croire qu'elles ne sont pas de grand prix. Un saphir blanc et bleu, 
 admirablement beau pour faire une bague d'cveque accompagnc 
 une fort grosse perle que le Roi a donncle a la Reine, que la nature 
 avait eu dessein de faire ronde et blanche, mais elle n'a pas reussi. 
 
 118. Madame de Cominges unwell. — Cominges to Lionne, 
 Sept. I, 1664. — Madame de Cominges pensa hier mourir d'une 
 colique la plus violente du monde, ce qui se peut juger par les 
 contorsions et evanouissements qu'elle produisit. Aujourd'hui elle 
 se porte mieux. Neanmoins, me trouvant oblige de me tenir 
 aupres d'elle pour la faire soulager, je n'ai gucre de temps pour 
 vous ecrire. [She recovers and then] elle se porte si bien qu'elle 
 est tous les jours en fete. Hier au soir Madame de Castlemaine 
 lui lit un regal le plus magnifique du monde, oil le Roi fit les 
 honneurs de la maison plutot en maitre qu'en convive. (Sept. 15, 
 
 166+). 
 
 119. Gramont Rejuvenated by the Birth of a Son. — 
 Cominges to Lionne, Sept. 8, 1664. — Madame la Comtesse de 
 Gramont accoucha hier d'un fils beau comme la mere et galant 
 comme le p^re. Toute la Cour s'en est rejouie avec le Comte 
 que j'en trouve tout rajeuni ; mais je crois que I'esperance de 
 retourner bient6t en France a efface les rides de ses yeux et de son 
 front et a fait naitre les lys et les roses. 
 
 120. Charles Entertained by Cominges. — Cominges to Lionne, 
 Sept. 22, 1664. — Le Roi avec les principaux de la Cour soupe 
 aujourd'hui ceans. Les Dames sont de la partie, que je regalerai 
 de violons et de musique et autres divertissements du pays. 
 Toutes les bizarres nouvelles que Ton ecrit de Paris m'ont oblige 
 de faire cette fete, afin de ne leur laisser pas la creance que I'on les 
 meprise, comme aussi pour les rcchauffer un peu envers nous par 
 toutes sortes de voies honnctcs et licites. Vous voulez bien que 
 j'aille donner ordre a cette affaire. 
 
230 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 12 1. "Fanatics" in the Provinces. — Cominges to LouiSy 
 Sept. 29, 1664. — Les fanatiques continuent leurs extravagances 
 quoique les prisons en soient pleines et les soldats incessamment 
 a leurs trousses. 
 
 122. Misadventure of the Lady Castlemaine. — Cominges to 
 LouiSy Oct. 2, 1664. — II y a deux jours que Madame de Castle- 
 maine, sortant le soir de chez Madame la Duchesse qui demeure 
 presentement a St. James, accompagnee d'une seule demoiselle et 
 d'un petit page fut rencontree par trois gentilshommes (du moins 
 le pouvait-on ainsi juger a leurs habillements) masques, que lui 
 lirent la plus forte et rude reprimande que Ton puisse imaginer, 
 jusques a lui dire que la maitresse d'Edouard quatrieme etait morte 
 sur un fumier, meprisee et abandonnee de tout le monde. Vous 
 pouvez penser si le temps lui dura, car le pare est plus long que de 
 chez Regnaud au Pavilion. Sitot qu'elle fut dans sa chambre elle 
 s'evanouit. Le Roi en fut averti, courut au secours et, etant 
 informe de I'afFaire, fit fermer toutes les portes et arreter tout ce 
 qui se trouva. Sept ou huit personnes qui s'y rencontrerent, ayant 
 ete confrontees et point reconnues, ont publie I'aventure que Ton 
 a bien voulu etoufi'er, mais je crois qu'il sera difficile. 
 
 123. The Duke of York visiting the Dockyards. — Cominges to 
 Lionne, Nov. 3, 1664. — M. le Due d'York passe tous les jours et 
 une partie des nuits a visiter la riviere armer les vaisseaux et fournir 
 les magasins. Toutes choses se disposent a un grand armement 
 . . . M. le Due et sa cabale agissent comme s'il etait sur le point 
 de s'embarquer. Samedi il fit sortir de Chatham le " St. James " 
 monte, de quatre vingt pieces et le meilleur vaisseau de toute 
 I'Angleterre. Deja son tapissier meuble ses appartements et son 
 marechal des logis marque !es cabanes pour les seigneurs qui se 
 prcparent a le suivre. 
 
 124. Power of English Words. — Cominges to Louis, Nov. 6, 
 1664. — Sur ce raffinement un chacun cria : Very wel ! Very 
 wel ! — Le Comte de Gramont expliquera I'energie et la force 
 de cette phrase anglaise a Votre Majeste. 
 
 125. Launching of a Man of War. — Splendour of the 
 English Navy. — Cominges to the King, Nov. 6, 1664. — Hier le 
 
APPENDIX. 231 
 
 Roi d'Angleterre mc fit rhonneur dc me mcner avcc lui pour 
 voir mettrc a la mer un vaisseau de douze cents tonneaux, le plus 
 beau et le plus magnifique que j'aie jamais vu. Cependant que 
 les peintres travaillent a Tembellissement des dehors et des cham- 
 bres, Ton le mate, Ton y met les cordages et I'artillerie . . . 
 Nous vimes dans c-j lieu la tous les vieux generaux et capitaines dc 
 Cromwell, qui sont fort afFectionnes et pleins de confiance a cause 
 de leurs dernicres victoires contre.les Hollandais. Le Roi me dit 
 devant eux qu'ils avaient tous eu la peste, mais qu'ils ctaicnt par- 
 faitement gucris, et moins susceptibles de maladie que les autres. 
 Je vous avoue. Sire, qu'il n'y a rien de plus beau a voir que toute 
 cette marine, rien de plus grand ni de plus majestueux que ce 
 grand nombre de vaisseaux faits et a faire, cette nombreuse 
 quantitc de canons, de mats, de cordages, de planches et autres 
 machines necessaires a cette sorte de guerre. Le Roi nous fit dans 
 un de ses yachts un magnifique repas. y but la sante de V. M. et 
 commanda a la compagnie de le seconder, qui ne s'epargna pas 
 a faire son devoir. Je fis le remerciment et en Son nom, je bus 
 celle du Roi d'Angleterre. L'une et I'autre fut celebree par tant 
 de coups de canon que, par son bruit, il fit changer le temps. 
 
 Durant cette rejouissance la mer grossit, qui ne fit guere moins 
 de malades que le vin, et la Reine qui se trouva sur la riviere avec 
 ses dames fut bien exempte du mal, mais non pas de la crainte. 
 Tout le reste s'en ressentit et en donna des marques. Cette 
 bourrasque finie, le beau temps revint, qui en donna sufiisamment 
 pour mettre le vaisseau a la mer et goiiter le plaisir sans incommo- 
 ditc de la grele ou de la pluie. La chose finie, la Reine prit les 
 carrosses prepares pour le Roi qui, faisant son plaisir de voir les 
 autres malades dans la tempete, ne se soucia gucres de nous y com- 
 mettre. Nous ne pumes pourtant arriver a la ville dans la berge ; 
 il fallut prendre des carrosses et des chevaux a. Greenwich pour 
 nous rendre a Whitehall. 
 
 126. A Morning Visit to the Chatham Dockyards. — Cominges 
 to Louis, Nov. 13, 1664. — Lundi dernier, a cinq heures du matin, 
 le Roi d'Angleterre m'envoya convier a I'accompagner jusques 
 a Chatham, pour y voir six navires ou plutot six machines de 
 .guerre les plus belles et les plus grandes que Ton voie sur les mers. 
 
232 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 Le vaisscau que doit monter M. le Due d'York, nomme *' le 
 Charles," est aussi beau par le dedans que les plus magnifiques 
 cabinets et aussi fort par le dehors que les plus fortes citadelles. 
 II est monte de quatre vingt pieces de canon, dont il y en a . . . 
 six pieces sur le chateau d'avant, dont il y a deux conleuvrines 
 d'une prodigeuse longueur. 
 
 127. Volunteers on the Fleet. — Cominges to Louis, -Nov. 16, 
 1664.. — Cependant une partie des volontaires partira lundi avec la 
 flotte pour s'accoutumer. Les dues de Monmouth, de Richmond, 
 de Buckingham, de Norfolk, et plusieurs autres seigneurs sont de 
 la partie. 
 
 128. Insecurity of the Post. — Cominges to Louis, Jan. 8, 1665. 
 — M. de Ruvigny dira beaucoup de particularites a V. M. qu'il 
 est dangereux d'ecrire. L'on a ici le secret d'ouvrir les lettres plus 
 subtilement qu'en lieu du monde. L'on croit meme que cela a le 
 bel air et que l'on ne saurait etre grand homme d'Etat sans arrcter 
 les paquets. 
 
 129. Prophecies. — Cominges to Lionne, Jan. 19, 1665. — [Some 
 English prophets foretell of disasters], ce qui ne laisse pas de 
 donner de la peine et de I'inquietude aux anciens Anglais qui 
 reverent la memoire de Merlin et du Roi ' Artus.' 
 
 130. Madame de Cominges Stopped by the Frost. — Cominges to 
 Lionne, Jan. 19, 1665. — Madame de Cominges est arretee par les 
 glaees. II y a quinze jours qu'elle est sans autres hardes que 
 celles qu'elle avait reservees pour le voyage. Le Roi lui a fait 
 I'honneur de la visiter et I'a regalce d'un assez beau poin9on de 
 diamant. [Somewhat later Cominges writes :] Eiifin il commence 
 a dcgeler, et j'espere que dans deux ou trois jours, ma femme, qui 
 a garde la chambre quinze jours fr*ute d'habits, s'embarquera pour 
 s'en retourner en France. (Jan. 29, 1665.) 
 
 131. St. Evremont. — Ruvigny to hionne, Jan. 22, 1665. — 
 St. Evremont se trouve en grande neccssite de santc et d'argent. 
 
APPENDIX. 233 
 
 Lc Roi d'Anglctcrrc lui donna hicr unc pension dc trois cents 
 Jacobus. 11 fait pitic. 
 
 132. A Gift to the Queen-mother. — Unpopularity of the 
 French. — Cominges to Lionne, Feb. 16, 1665. — II faut finir par une 
 nouvelle qui vous fera rire. II y a deux jours que je prcsentai a 
 la Reine-mere la calcche que le Roi lui a envoyce. Je crois que 
 la moitic de la ville accourut pour la voir au passage, qui se 
 disaient les uns aux autrcs que c'etait le tribut que le Roi de 
 France payait a TAngleterre et que, pour couvrir en quelque fa^on 
 ce devoir, j'avais obt^nu du Roi d'Angleterre que je le presenterais 
 a la Reine sa m^re. Apres cela, Monsieur, dites que je ne suis 
 pas adroit et que la France ne m'est pas obligee de mettre si 
 finement a couvert le malheur de sa destinee. 
 
 133. Cominges's Attitude Before Death. — Bruchet to Lionne^ 
 March 30, 1665. — Le mal de M. I'Ambassadeur augumentant de 
 jour a autre, il ne veut plus songer qu'a mettre sa conscience en 
 repos, sans plus pcnser aux affaires du monde. C'est pourquoi il 
 m'a commandc pour la derniere fois, de vous mander les efFets qu'a 
 produits le memoire qu'il a presente au Roi d'Angleterre le 26 de 
 ce mois. Ses ministres Font trouve trop rude et trop pressant ; 
 mais Son Exc. a cru ne devoir pas moins faire apres tant de sujets 
 de plaintes. . . . 
 
 M. I'Ambassadeur vous prie de faire ses derniers compliments au 
 Roi et aux Reines et de temoigner a Leurs Majestes que le plus 
 grand regret qu'il ait en mourant, c'est de ne rendre pas les derniers 
 soupirs a leurs pieds. II vous prie aussi, Monseigneur, d'empecher 
 que Madame la Comtessc de Cominges, outree d'une si jugte 
 douleur, entreprenne de le venir trouver, puisque, avant son 
 arrivce, ce sera une affaire videc de fa9on ou d'autre. . . . Toute 
 cette Cour fait paraitre beaucoup de dcplaisir de son mal et envoie 
 e^actement savoir de ses nouvelles. 
 
 134. Instructions to the " Celebre Ambassade." — April 4, 
 1665. — Sadite Majeste desire que ledit Sieur due de Verneuil et le 
 Sieur Courtin partent sans dclai, dans la toute semaine prochaine 
 pour se rendre a Londres avec le plus de diligence qu'il leur sera 
 
234 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR, 
 
 possible, sans s'assujetir a attendre tout I'attirail de leur equipage 
 qui les pourra suivre a loisir. [They will do their best to prevent 
 war. If war takes place and the English have the better of it, 
 England will remain without a rival at sea ;] apres quoi il serait tres 
 difficile aux autres Puissances de contester aux Anglais cet empire 
 de la mer auquel ils ont de tout temps aspire et dont aujourd'hui ils 
 se montrent si avides qu'on pent dire que ce dessein et celui de 
 s'emparer de tout le commerce du monde sont les deux veritables 
 causes de tout le trouble et de toutes les querelles qu'ils suscitent 
 presentement auxdits Etats. [Louis acknowledges that] les forces 
 maritimes de sa couronne ne repondent pas presentement a sa 
 veritable puissance. 
 
 135. CoMiNGEs's Observations on his Impending Death. — 
 To Lionne, April J, 1665. — L'on se plaint extremement de la 
 secheresse et de la maniere dont j'ai fait mon memoire au Roi et a 
 son Conseil. Si je meurs, ma charge n'en sera guere plus pesante, 
 et si je reviens je saurai bien soutenir la forme et la matiere' de 
 mon ecrit. Ce qui leur parait de plus facheux, a mon avis, c'est 
 qu'un homme qui rend I'esprit est toujours cense dire la verite, et 
 ses paroles emportent avec soi je ne sais quelle consideration qui 
 les fait estimer de tout le monde. 
 
 136. Royal English Yachts for Verneuil and Courtin. — 
 Bigorre to Lionne^ April 14, 1665, from Calais. — II y a ici deux 
 yachts qui sont fort beaux et fort dores au dehors et au dedans. 
 Les chambres en sont admirablement propres, avec des tapis de 
 pied et des lits de velours. 
 
 137. Dover to London. — Talk on the Way. — The Three 
 Ambassadors Extraordinary to Louis ^ April 20, 1665. — Beaucoup de 
 gens demandaient a Douvres, a Cantorbery, a Rochester, aux 
 personnes de notre suite pourquoi nous allions a Londres, et sur ce 
 qu'on leur repondait que c'etait pour y traiter la paix entre 
 I'Angleterre et la Hollande, ils disaient assez naturellement, que 
 si nous ne venions que pour cela, nous n'avions qu'a nous en 
 retourner. 
 
 138. Charles on the War. — Verneuil^ Courtin^ and Cominges to 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 Lionne^ April 23, 1665. — [Charles says to Courtin :] Mr., ma 
 
 flotte est hors de mes ports a cette heure : je ne I'y puis plus faire 
 
 rentrcr avec honneur ; et puis raon peuple est enrage centre les 
 Hollandais. 
 
 139. Frenxh and English Kingship. — Courtin to Lionne^' April, 
 1665. — II y a cette difference entre lui \i.e., Charles II.] et le Roi 
 notre maitre que Sa Majeste peut faire marcher ses sujets commc 
 il Lui plait, mais il faut que le Roi d'Angleterre marche avec les 
 siens. 
 
 140. Unmanageableness of the Dutch. — The Three to Louis y 
 May II, 1665. — [They try to incline the Dutch envoy Van Gogh 
 to peace]. — Ah ! Monsieur, rcpondit-il, vous me demandez unc 
 grande affaire. Ce que je puis vous assurer, est que nos peuples 
 ne sont pas moins difficiles a gouverner que les Anglais et 
 qu'ils n'approuveraient jamais que nous allassions plus avant. . . . 
 Puisque on nous attaque injustement, j'ai ete homme d'armes (cc 
 sont les propres termes dont il s'est servi), je saurai bien perir 
 comme les autres . . . Nous le laissames revenir de ce mouvement 
 qui avait ete cause par un beau zele, et peut-etre parce qu'il avait 
 une grande epee a son cote. 
 
 141. Drinking. — Courtin to Lionne, May 24, 1665. — Excusez 
 mon style; j'ai ccrit toute la nuit et je viens de boire un peu plus 
 que de raison. 
 
 142. The Debuts of Lionne's Son in English Society. — 
 Courtin to Lionne, May 24, 1665. — Mr. votre fils commence 
 comme les honnetcs gens font : il est un peu honteux ; mais nous 
 lui avons donne du courage et Mr. d'lrval (.?) Ta si bien servi 
 qu'enfin il a fait sa declaration, qui a ete fort bien re9ue par unc 
 des plus jolies filles d'Angleterre. C'est Mademoiselle 'Genins,' 
 qui est aupr^s de Madame la Duchesse d'York : elle est petite, 
 mais d'une fort jolie taille : elle a le teint admirable, les cheveux 
 comme vous avez vu autrefois ceux de Madame de Longueville ; les 
 yeux vifs et brillants et la peau la plus fine et la plus blanche que 
 j'aie jamais vue. Madame la Duchesse, qui est assez severe aux 
 autres, trouve qu'ils sont si bien assortis qu'elle est la premiere a 
 
236 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 less favoriser : la Reine-mere, le Roi, toute la Cour est dans les 
 memes sentiments. On en rit, mais je vous assure que I'afFaire va 
 bien et qu'elle ne vous doit donncr aucune inquietude, car vous 
 pouvez bien croire que je mettrais comme on dit les 'hola' ; si je 
 voyais que notre cavalier allat trop avant. Mais sa galanterie est 
 justement au point oil il faut qu'elle soit pour le rendre honnete 
 homme et je vous en ferai savoir le progrcs. 
 
 143. Charles's French and the Ambassadors' Latin. — The 
 Three to Louis^ May 24, 1665. — Depuis que je suis dans mon 
 Royaume [Charles says] j'ai quasi oublie la langue fran9aise, et, 
 •dans la vcrite, la peine que j'ai a trouver les paroles me fait perdre 
 mes pensecs. C'est pourquoi j'ai besoin d'etre soulagc et d'avoir du 
 temps pour deliberer sur les affaires qui m'ont ete proposees en 
 cette langue. . . . Comme il se vit presse, il ajouta que ses 
 commissaircs n'entendraient pas le fran^ais. Je [i.e., Courtin] lui 
 representai qu'il y avait beaucoup de personnes dans son Conseil 
 <jui le parlaient aussi bien que nous et qu'en tous cas nous 
 traiterions en latin, si ces Messieurs en voulaient prendre le 
 parti. 
 
 Non, non, dit-il, je vous assure qu'ils ne traiteront jamais que 
 par ecrit. 
 
 C'est, Sire, lui repliquai-je, ce que je suis bien fache que nous 
 ne puissions pas faire. 
 
 Comme nous en etions la, on ouvrit la porte et la Reine sa mere, 
 qui se retirait, vint a passer, et nous dit : Dieu vous benisse, 
 comme temoignant du desir qu'elle avait que nous puissions 
 prendre quelque bonne resolution. Le Comte de St. Alban 
 parut dans I'ouverture de la porte et le Roi I'appella a lui, disant : 
 Approchez-vous, voici un petit homme dont je ne saurais venir 
 a bout. 
 
 144. The Loves of Young Lionne. — Courtin to Lionne, May 28, 
 1665. — Je me suis oppose au dessein que M. votre ills avait d'aller 
 voir la flotte avec Madame la Duchesse d'York. ... II est d'un 
 temperament si vif que je n'ai pas cru qu'il fut a propos de le 
 laisser sur sa foi pendant cinq ou six jours depuis le matin jusques 
 au soir auprcs d'une jeune fille avec laquelle il serait peut-etre 
 embarque plus avant que je n'eusse voulu. 
 
APPENDIX. 237 
 
 Jc lui donnai hicr Ic plan d'unc depeche pour M. d'Estrades^ 
 non pas a desscin qu'cllc nous servit a tous trois . . . mais pour 
 Tessayer. 
 
 . . . Jc lui dis toutes Ics veritcs qu'il est nccessaire qu'il sache^ 
 et jc nc mc contcntc pas dc traitcr avcc lui tous les chapitres qui 
 me paraisscnt Ics plus importants ; je prie aussi M. de Cominges 
 de m'aidcr. Nous avons entre nous a combattre quclqucfois la 
 timiditc, quclqucfois la prcsomption, fort souvent la paressc, mais 
 principalcmcnt la vanite qui sc nourrit par tous les honneurs qu'on 
 lui rend ; ce qui me fait jugcr qu'il est nccessaire que vous le 
 mettiez dans la robe, ou il se trouvera tous les jours parmi des gens 
 qui, n'ayant point dc vucs pour la Cour, vivront plus familicrcmcnt 
 avcc lui, et Ic detromperont de ce que la consideration qu'on a 
 pour vous lui pcut faire entrer dans I'esprit. 
 
 145. The Lower Classes in England and their Passion for 
 Politics. — The Three to Lionne, June i, 1665. — La conclusion dc 
 ce discours [Lauderdale's speech against France at the Castlemaine's] 
 est dans la bouche de tous les Anglais, et il nc faut qu'aller a la 
 Bourse pour Tentendre repcter tous les matins. Car dans ce pays 
 ici, tout ic monde se croit en droit de parlcr des affaires d'Etat, et les 
 batclicrs mcmes vculent que les mylords les en entrctiennent quand 
 ils Ics conduisent au Parlement. 
 
 146. HoLLEs' Street Difficulties in Paris. — Apologies offered 
 TO HIM. — Lionne to the Three, June 3, 1665. — [Holles's coach had 
 been stopped in the street and a quarrel between coachmen had 
 ensued.] Le Marquis de Besnac, qui doit ctre quelquc jcune 
 homme puisqu'il n'a point encore I'honneur d'etre connu dc S. M.,, 
 lui dit [i.e. to Holies] quelquc parole facheusc comme scrait a dire 
 qu'il le trouvait bien emportc pour un vieillard. . . . 
 
 Le Roi n'a pas laissc . . . dc faire mettre le Marquis de Besnac 
 a la Bastille et tous ses gens au Fort I'Eveque, qui est tout ce qui 
 s'est pu faire. 
 
 147. Rigour of the English Climate. — Ccurtin to Lionne, June 
 4, 1665. — II est nccessaire que le Roi jette les yeux sur quelqu'un 
 qui ait les epaulcs larges pour remplir I'ambassade d'Angletcrre, car 
 
238 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 M. de Verncuil est en fort mauvais ctat ; M. de Cominges a un 
 rhume eternel qui I'accompagnera jusques au tombeau ou jusques 
 en France, et moi, qui ai naturellement la poitrine fort delicate je 
 perds la voix depuis quatre ou cinq jours, et j'ai un si grand feu 
 dans I'estomac, avec des douleurs de cote que la peur commence a 
 me prendre, et si cela continue je serai bientot hors d'etat de faire 
 aucune fonction. 
 
 148. Young Lionne's Opinion of Youth and Age. — Courtin to 
 Lionne, June 8, 1665. — Mr. votre fils est un infidele ; le Roi 
 <l'Angleterre I'a decouvert, et la verite est, comme je vous I'ai 
 mande, qu'il s'est pique d'honneur et qu'il n'a pas voulu que nous 
 le puissions soup9onner d'etre capable d'aller trop loin. Ainsi, a 
 •cet egard, il n'y a rien a craindre. Ce qui est de facheux seule- 
 ment, c'est qu'il ne saurait aimer, a ce qu'il dit, que de jeunes 
 filles, et cependant, il faut que les gens de son age soient dresses 
 par des vieilles qui leur fassent perdre la honte qui les rend muets 
 et les empcche de rien entreprendre. 
 
 149. Inconveniency of too Strict Instructions. — Courtin to 
 Lionne^ June 8, 1665. — Je demeure d'accord que, pour ce qui 
 regarde le fond d'un traite, il faut qu'un Ambassadeur se regie, sur 
 les ordres du maitre ; mais pour la forme et pour tous les expedients, 
 il en doit etre le maitre, parce qu'un homme qui est sur les lieux 
 voit des choses qu'on ne peut envisager de loin. [If he were not 
 comparatively young, he would follow his own bent.] Je prendrais 
 des partis, sans vous en rien faire savoir qu'apres coup [As things 
 stand, he will care less about business.] Vous me permettrez, des 
 que je ne tousserai plus, de vivre comme les ministres d'Angleterre, 
 et, des ce matin j'ai nomme au Roi la personne qui m'a touche le 
 cceur, et il a commence a me rendre de bons offices aupres d'elle. 
 
 150. Young Lionne Improved by Love. — Cominges to Lionne, 
 June, 1665. — Je vous avoue que je n'ai pu me resoudre a lui 
 retrancher un divertissement qui peut contribuer a le rendre 
 honnete homme, d'autant plus qu'il ne pouvait faire un plus beau 
 ni meilleur choix que sa petite maitresse. Depuis son intrigue je 
 le trouve plus bardi dans la conversation, plus soigneux de sa per- 
 sonne et moins sauvage avec le monde, et j'espere que ce voyage ne 
 
APPENDIX. 239 
 
 lui aura pas nui et que vous trouvcrez quclque changement dans sa 
 manicre de vivre qui ne vous dcplaira pas. II est vrai que vous 
 etes bien difficile et que vous voudriez trouver Tcntierc perfection 
 dans un age ou la raison a peine se laisse reconaitre. 
 
 151. Verneuil feels Depressed and his Servants too. — 
 Courtin to Lionne^ June 11, 1665. — Au lieu de consoler leur 
 maitre qui commence fort a s'ennuyer, ils paraissent tous autour 
 de lui comme des gens qu'on va mener au supplice, et d^s que 
 j'arrive ils me demandent quand on partira. 
 
 152. The Plague. — Courtin to Lionne, June 18, 1665. — La peste 
 nous assicge de tous cotes, et, a moins qu'il n'arrive quelque chose 
 de facheux, la Cour quittera Londres aussit6t que la Reine-mere 
 sera partie. M. de Verneuil se dispose a ne mener que fort peu de 
 gens avec lui et a renvoyer le reste en France. Je vous demande 
 conseil pour savoir comment j'en dois user. J'ai 40 personnes 
 chez moi ; je n'oserais en laisser aucune dans Londres a cause de 
 la maladie qui s'augmente. 
 
 153. Jean de Witt. — Courtin to Lionne^ June 22, 1665. — M. de 
 Witt est un homme assez ferme pour vouloir encore hasarder un 
 combat. II sera peut-ctre dechire par le peuple. 
 
 154. Rejoicings for the Victory over the Dutch. — Bigorre to 
 Lionne^ June 18, 1665. — A Theure ou je vous ecris Monseigneur, 
 qui est environ onze heures du soir, j'entcnds de tous cotes des cris 
 du peuple qui est en grande multitude dans les rues autour des feux 
 de joic. En revenant de chez Messieurs de Cominges et Courtin 
 pour leur faire signer les depcches, j'en ai vu beaucoup qu'on prc- 
 parait. Aux portes des personnes riches, il y avait a un seul feu 
 une charretce de bois, et ceux qui n'cn ontpas brulent leurs vieillcs 
 chaises et leurs vieux cofFres. . . . On a mis quclque eteiidard 
 qu'on a pris sur les Hollandais tout au haut de la Tour de Londres. 
 Les cloches de Westminster ont sonnc pour marque de rejouissance. 
 
 155. The Rejoicings Followed by a Riot. — The Three to 
 Lionne, June 22, 1665. — Nous avions bien prevu qu'en nous con- 
 duisant comme des mcdiateurs et ne faisant Doint de feux de joie. 
 
240 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 nous nous exposerions a deplaire au pcuplc de Londrcs. Nous en 
 avons re^u une insulte, nous Cominges et Courtin, parce que nos 
 maisons sont au milieu de la ville. ... II est vrai que cela est arrive 
 a une heure apres minuit, c'est-a-dire apres que les Anglais avaient 
 bien bu ; mais ils ne laisserent pas le jour meme et le lendemain de 
 dire beaucoup d'injures a tous les Fran9ais qui passaient dans les 
 rues. . . . Cela vient de I'aversion naturelle qu'ils ont contre la 
 nation. 
 
 156. Riot against the French Ambassadors. — Courtin to Lio?ine, 
 June 22, 1665. — Mon histoire ne sera pas longue ; j'en ai ete quitte 
 pour une douzaine de vitres cassees dans la chambre de M. votre 
 fils, et M. de Cominges a plus de sujet de se plaindre que moi. Si 
 nous n'eussions etc sages, vous eussiez oui parler d'une grillade 
 d'Ambassadeurs, car toutes les rues etaient pleines de charbon fort 
 allume. 
 
 157. CoMiNGEs's Account of the Riot. — To Lionne, June 22, 
 1665. — Vous saurez done, Monsieur, pour I'oublier un moment 
 apres, que, pour ne rien faire d'indecent ni de contraire a la 
 qualitc de mediateur, j'ordonnai a mes gens de ne point faire de 
 feu devant ma porte, mais bien de donner du bois pour augmenter 
 celui des voisins en cas qu'ils en demandassent. Soit que d'abord 
 ils n'y prissent pas garde, ou que les fumees du vin ne leur eussent 
 pas encore monte a la tete, Ton me laissa en repos jusques a minuit. 
 Mais peu apres il sembla bon a une multitude de canailles, qui 
 croyait sans doute temoigner son zele pour la patrie et son aversion 
 pour les Fran9ais, d'attaquer ma maison avec leurs sobriquets 
 ordinaires, et ensuite avec une grele de cailloux qui me fit aban- 
 donner ma chambre pour eviter d'etre blesse dans une si belle 
 occasion. Mes gens, braves comme des lions enchaines, s'emurent 
 aux insolences et coururent aux armes, chacun selon sa profession, 
 c'est-a-dire que les broches faisaient I'avant-garde et les pistolets et 
 mousquetons le corps de la bataille. Les choses ainsi ordonnces, 
 je crus qu'il etait a propos de calmer cette fougue militaire. Ainsi, 
 apres une harangue de remerciements, je fis retirer mes troupes 
 
 . . . Les ennemis profitant de ma prudence, qu'ils appelaient 
 faiblesse, marqucrent toutes les avenues de ma maison d'un 
 
APPENDIX. 241 
 
 nombrc infini de croix blanches, avec unc inscription qui disait : 
 *Dieu veuille avoir pitie et misericorde do cette pauvre maison!* 
 comme si veritablement la peste en eut deja ravage les habitants. 
 Chacun se retira avec des cris et des huces. 
 
 I 58. USELESSNESS OF TaLK AND CoMPLIMENTS. CoUrtlTl tO LionnCy 
 
 June 29, 1665. — Tant que je verrai ici que M. van Gogh et 
 que nous ne serons charges que de certains lieux communs pour 
 persuader par de belles paroles le Roi d'Angleterre, a qui nous 
 avons deja re9u ordre de faire trois ou quatre fois le meme compli- 
 ment, je croirai que vous riez sous cape quand, par malheur pour 
 vous, la bienseance vous oblige a nous ecrire. Et vous me permettrez 
 de vous rendre la justice que je vous dois : vous etes trop eclaire 
 pour ne pas savoir, ainsi que moi, que le Roi d'Angleterre, quand il 
 serait capable de se laisser toucher par toutes les belles choses que 
 vous avez si delicatement touchces dans notre instruction et dans 
 deux ou trois autres depeches, n'ayant qu'une autorite dependante 
 des mouvements de son Parlement ou de son peuple, n'est pas en 
 etat de suivre les sentiments de son cceur. II faut done examiner 
 si les temoignages de tendresse de la part de S. M., ses prieres, et 
 toutes les instances que nous faisons sur ce sujet sont capables de 
 faire quelque impression sur le Parlement d'Angleterre et sur le 
 peuple de Londres ; et c'est ce que vous ne croirez pas aisement. 
 
 159. Verneoil v/ants to go. — Courtin to Liofine, July 2, 1655. 
 [Courtin has worked so hard to settle the claims of the merchants, 
 that he feels very unwell.] J'en serai pulmonique au premier jour. 
 Mais je me suis mis dans la tete de ne pas mourir a Londres, et je 
 ne veux pas faire comme le pauvre M. de Verneuil dont I'espritest 
 plus abattu que le corps. Nous faisons tout ce qui nous est 
 possible, M. de Cominges et moi, pour lui faire prendre courage, 
 et nous avons raison, car jamais nous ne serons avec un homme 
 plus commode, mais notre eloquence est a bout, et si vous ne nous 
 envoyez vitement quelqu'un de ces grands seigneurs qui se promenent 
 tous les jours, huit ou neuf heures durant, dans la cour du vieil 
 chateau de St. Germain, on montrera un jour aux Fran9ais, le 
 tombeau de M. de Verneuil dans I'abbaye de Westminster. 
 
 160. Portuguese Ecclesiastics of the ^ueen. — Bigorre to 
 
 16 
 
242 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 Lionne, July 2, 1665. — La Reine d'Angletcrre n'a quasi point de 
 Portugais aupres d'elle ; mais, en revanche, elle a, pour le service 
 de sa chapelle, des religieux de son pays et plusieurs ecclesiastiques 
 dont il n'y a pas un qui n'ait mene ses pere, mere, freres, neveux, 
 etc. S. M. a envoye tout ce train a Salisbury a cause de la pcste. 
 II y en avait huit carrosses pleins. 
 
 161. Return of young Lionne. — The Three to Lionne^ J^h ^' 
 1665. — II a fort bien reussi dans cette Cour ; nous pouvons vous 
 assurer qu'on sera fort fache de le perdre et qu'il y etait estime du 
 Roi, des Reines et fort aime de la plus jolie iille qui soit en Angle- 
 terre. 
 
 162. Slow Progress of the Plague. — Bigorre to Lionne, July 
 6, 1665. — La peste n'est pas en ce lieu si contagieuse qu'aux pays 
 chauds, puisque, dans les rues oil il y a quatre ou cinq maisons 
 fermees, on parle avec les pestiferes qui ouvrent leurs fenetres et 
 on se promene dans lesdites rues comme s'il n'y avait aucun ma). 
 Jusques a cette heure on croit que I'air n'est pas gate et il n'y a eu 
 aucune personne de mediocre condition seulement qui ait cte 
 attaquee. 
 
 163. A Dinner at the Spanish Embassy. — Bigorre to Lionne, 
 July 6, 1665. — Le Comte de Molina . . . traite Messeigneurs les 
 Ambassadeurs mercredi. II fait fort bonne chere a la mode 
 d'Espagne, commen^ant par des ollas, le second est le fruit, et le 
 troisieme le rot. II a un sommelier qui fait du blanc-manger 
 liquide qu'on estime fort et qu'on boit comme de la limonade. 
 
 164. Courtin's Pleading for young Lionne. — July 9, 1665. — 
 Ne vous rebutez pas pour les premieres fautes de la jeunesse. Si 
 je passe I'hiver a Paris, je pretends vous degeler I'un et I'autre et 
 vous accoutumer si bien ensemble que vous prendrez autant de 
 plaisir a le former qu'il en prendra a etre instruit. 
 
 165. After A Supper at the Spanish Embassy. — Bigorre to Lionne, 
 July 9,. 1665. — Lundi dernier il [i.e., Molina] donna a souper a 
 Madame de Castlemaine et a plusieurs autres Anglais et Anglaises. 
 II y eut grand regal, mais ses gens ayant fait boire les cochers et les 
 
APPENDIX. 243 
 
 laquais sans mcsure, ils se trouvcrent tous souls quand il fut question 
 de partir et,comme leurs maitres et maitrcsses s'cn aper9urcnt ctqu'ils 
 ne voulurent pas se laisser mener par des hommes ivres, ils emprun- 
 t^rent a M. I'Ambassadeur d'Espagne ses cochers et ses postilions. 
 Mais il restait encore a quelques uns des autres assez de connais- 
 sance pour dccouvir le tort qu'ils croyaient qu'on leur faisait ; si 
 bien que s'ctant mis en etat de I'emp^cher, ils se gourmcrent avec 
 les domestiques de M. de Molina, et ce fut le plus grand et Ic 
 plus plaisant desordre du monde. 
 
 166. The many Friends of the Spanish Ambassador. — Courtin 
 to Lionne, July 9, 1665. — C'cst qu'il a de quoi les culturer et qu'il 
 travaille sur les memoires que Philippe de Comincs nous a kisses. 
 
 167. French Incense. Its success with Miss Stuart. — Courtin 
 to Lionne, July 9, 1665. — Pour nous autres, que les Anglais ne 
 saluent pas dans les rues et qui n'avons plus personne en qui nous 
 puissions prendre confiance, nous sommes obliges de donner de 
 I'encens au lieu d'argent. Cette monnaie a cte de mise jusques a 
 cette heure aupres de Mile. Stewart, chez qui le Roi d'Angleterre me 
 mena hier a onze heures du soir, et je vous peux assurer que je 
 suis mieux avec elle que le comte de Molina n'est avec Madame de 
 Castlemaine. C'est le soleil levant et, pour dire le vrai aussi, elle 
 est incomparablement plus belle que I'autre. 
 
 168. The Plague. — Removing to Kingston. — Bigorre to 
 Lionne, July 12, 1665, — S. A. de Verneuil etant partie hier au 
 matin de Londres pour se rendre en ce lieu, j'ai eu I'honneur de I'y 
 accompagner et je me donne celui de vous avertir, Monseigneur, de 
 notre arrivee a * Kinstawn.' Messieurs de Cominges et Courtin ne 
 viendront ici que demain, encore ne sais-je si ce dernier pourra si 
 tot quitter un lieu ou la peste Tenvironne. Car un jeune fou chez 
 qui le marechal des logis du Roi d'Angleterre lui avait marque son 
 logement a efface lui mcme la craie, et se vante de ne souffrir per- 
 sonne dans sa maison. On a fait la mcme reception a M. 
 I'Ambassadeur d'Espagne. On travaille a faire obcir ces esprits mal 
 faits : mais apparemment on n'en viendra pas a bout sans peine. 
 Vous voyez par la, M'^nsieur, qu'on aurait tort d'appeler les Rois 
 
244 -A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 d'Angletcrrc nimium reges. II y a eu dcja ime maison pestiferee 
 en cc lieu ; mais S. M. B. a ordonne qu'on enlevat tout ce qui se 
 trouvera dedans et qu'on parfumat le logis avec un soin extreme. 
 
 [Bigorre writes at the same time to Courtin :] Si vous jugez a 
 propos, Monseigneur, d'aller dire un mot a M. le Grand Chambellan, 
 je crois que vous ne vous rendrez pas seulement un bon service, 
 mais a tous les Ambassadeurs en general, car on fait la meme diffi- 
 cultc a celui d'Espagne; et si la conduite de ce jeune cvente n'est 
 punie, il nous faudra partout ou nous irons en sortant d'ici, livrer 
 un combat pour avoir un logement. Pour moi, Monseigneur, en 
 qualite de Gascon, cela ne met gucre en peine, et je puis assurer 
 V. E. que je verserai toujours jusqu'a la dcrniere goute de mon 
 encre pour lui temoigner que je suis [etc.]. 
 
 [Courtin forwards the above to Lionne, adding :] Vous verrez par 
 la lettre de M. Bigorre, que je viens de recevoir, en quelle perplexite 
 est Mon Excellence. Me voila reduit a demeurer encore pour quel- 
 ques jours parmi les pestiferes. Car apres qu'on aura trouve 
 'milord chamberlan ' qui est a la campagne, son credit ne 
 s'etendra pas jusques a me faire loger chez un Anglais s'il ne le 
 trouve bon, Je ne me consolerais point d'etre parmi des gens fort 
 incivils et dans une belle negociation en apparence, dans laquelle 
 neanmoins nous passons quatre ordinaires sans que vous pensiez que 
 nous soyons au monde, si je n'avais trouve heureusement les Amadis 
 qu'un bon pere jesuite qui me sert d'aumonier lit avec autant de 
 plaisir que moi, apres avoir couru chez tous les libraires de Londres 
 pour les acheter. . . . 
 
 Je vous ecris d'un desert ; on peut appeler ainsi le lieu ou 
 nous sommes, c'est-a-dire le quartier, ou la Cour loge en cette ville, 
 qui n'est pas moins grand que le faubourg St. Germain. II en est 
 sorti, depuis quatre jours, trente mille personnes, et, des hier, nous 
 rencontrames, M. de Cominges et moi, des gens avec des baguettes 
 blanches, c'est-a-dire des pestiferes, qui se promenaient dans les 
 rues . . . Nous sommes restes ici, M. de Cominges et moi, pour 
 regler nos affaires, mcttre nos hardes en surete, en renvoyer une 
 partie en France, aussi bien que quelques uns de nos domestiques, 
 et nous nous sommes retranchc's tous deux a n'avoir que chacun 
 vingt trois personnes (July 13, 1665). 
 
APPENDIX, 245 
 
 169. Lady Castlemaine out of temper. — Courtin to Lionne ; 
 Kingston^ July 16, 1665. — [The Lady] n'a pas voulu couchcr a 
 Hampton Court, disant que son appartement n'est pas encore pret. 
 Cependent S. M. B. Soupa hier avec Mile. Stewart chez milord 
 Arlington qui avait sa maitresse de la partie. C'est une Madame 
 Scrope, premiere femme de chambre de la Reine, qui est d'une 
 taille a ne pas se contenter d'un Secretaire d'Etat : car, Monsieur, 
 afin que vous le sachiez, on ne contente pas les dames avec de 
 belles dcpcches comme celles que vous faites tous les jours. . .. . 
 Mais pour revenir a cc que je vous disais, Madame de Castlemaine 
 hasarde fort, et si sa colore dure, elle pourra bien perdre la plus 
 belle rose de son chapeau. On peut se servir de cette com- 
 paraison dans un pays ou toutes les femmes en portent. 
 
 170. Spanish Chocolate. — Courtin to Lionne^ Kingston^ J^h ^^» 
 1665. — II [/>., Molina] fait la plus extraordinaire grimace que j'aie 
 jamais vue. En recompense il a le meilleur chocolat du monde, et si 
 je n'apprchendais point de me brouiller avec Madame de Lionne, je 
 vous en enverrais. Mais apres cela, vous auriez un si grande 
 mepris pour celui dont elle vous a rapporte le secret de Madrid que 
 vous n'en prendriez de votre vie. 
 
 171. Fresh Difficulties in finding Accommodation. — The 
 'Three to Lionne^ J^h ^^» 1665. — Nous avions envoye chacun un 
 de nos domestiques avec les marechaux des logis du Roi, qui nous 
 ont rapporte que ces officiers n'ont ose mettre la croix, et que les 
 proprietaires avaient dit en leur presence qu'ils ne quitteraient pas 
 leurs chambres pour qui que ce fiit. On ticnt impunement ce 
 langage en ce pays-ci. 
 
 172. Little Jennings and young Lionne. — Courtin to Lionne^ 
 July 27, 1665. — Jeudi soir le Roi d'Angleterre tourmenta fort en 
 ma presence * mistris Genins' sur le sujet de M. votre fils ; la 
 petite fiUe en rougit et jamais je ne I'ai vue si belle. S. M. me 
 dit que M. Porter avait etc prie a Calais par M. votre fils de lui 
 faire savoir quelle mine elle aurait faite le jour de son depart et en 
 mcme temps Sadite Majeste m'assura que jamais il n'avait vu un 
 homme si dcsolc ni si triste que le galant lui parut sur le yacht de 
 
246 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 la Reine mere. Je vous assure qu'il avait raison, car la demoiselle 
 I'aimait bien, et si celle qui vous reduisit a prendre cette eau qui 
 sent la therebentine eut ete aussi belle, votre estomac aurait eu 
 bien de la peine a se retablier, J'ai de quoi lui redonner une 
 nouvelle vigueur, et je n'attends que le retour de Persod pour vous 
 envoyer des tablettes de chocolat dont Monsieur I'Ambassadeur 
 d'Espagne m'a fait present. 
 
 173. Spanish Recipe for Chocolate. — Bigorre to Lionne, July 
 30, 1664. — Apres que le paquet ou est le chocolat que M. Courtin 
 vous envoie a etc cachete, il m'a ordoniie de vous faire savoir com- 
 ment M. I'Ambassadeur d'Espagne le prepare ; et il m'a dicte les 
 trois lignes suivantes sans que j'y aie rien ajoute ni diminue : — " // 
 
 faut faire bouillir Peau^ et apres cela meler le chocolat et le sucre, et 
 ne point le remettre sur le feu^^ 
 
 174. The Plague. An Order read to the Troops. — Courtin 
 to Lionne, Aug. 6, 1665. — Ce matin, la peste a paru a un soldat 
 des gardes qui etait dans le chateau d'Hampton Court, et on a ete 
 contraint de faire un ban a la tete des compagnies, portant com- 
 mandement a tout soldat malade de la peste de le declarer, a peine 
 d'etre passe par les armes. Ce sont de grands agrements pour notre 
 negociation, qui finira peut-etre bientot malgre nous, car si un de 
 nos valets est attaque de ce mal, il faudra que nous prenions la 
 campagne, et je ne sais pas, si cela arrivait, si nous trouverions oil 
 nous mettre a couvert en ce pays. 
 
 175. A Corpse on the Road. — The Three to Lionne, Aug. 9, 
 1665. — Tous les villages des environs d'Hampton Court sont in- 
 fectes et je trouvai hier, moi. Due de Verneuil, en me promenant 
 le long du grand chemin, le corps d'un homme qui venait de 
 mourir de la peste. Les pluies et les chaleurs qu'il fait contri- 
 bueront fort a augmenter ce mal. 
 
 176. The Established Church. — Courtin to Lionne, Aug. 15, 
 1665. — Les eveques (dont il n'y en a pas un qui soit de naissance) 
 ne sont en aucune consideration ; aussi, a dire la vcrite il est assez 
 extraordinaire de voir un Eveque et des chanoines assis dans les 
 chaires du choeur avec leurs femmes et leurs enfants aupres d'eux. 
 
APPENDIX. 247 
 
 Cela donna lieu a un Ecossais d'ccrirc il y a quelque temps : " Vidi 
 Episcopum et Episcopam, Episcopulos et Episcopulas." Le Roi 
 mcmc qui les a retablis dans ces dignites me disait avant-hier qu'il 
 ne trouvait pas cela bien, et en efFet cela est cause qu'ils tombent 
 dans le mepris. 
 
 177. From Kingston to Salisbury. — C our tin to Lionne, 
 15, 1665. — J'ai ete surpris de voir en trente lieues de fort beau 
 pays qu'il y a fort peu de villages ; que dans un temps de moisson 
 il y a fort peu de gens qui travaillent a la campagne, qu'on ne 
 rencontre prcsque personne sur les chemins. Nous avons passe dans 
 trois villes, dont il y a deux qu'on nomme entre les plus consider- 
 ables d'Angleterre, ou meme il y a des eveches ; il s'en faut beau- 
 coup qu'elles ne soient aussi grandes, aussi peuplees et aussi bien 
 baties que celle de St. Denis. Toutes les autres de ce royamme a 
 la reserve de celles de Londres, d'York et de Bristol, ne valent pas 
 mieux. Le peuple y est assez commodement parce qu'il ne paye 
 rien quand I'Etat n'a point de guerre a soutenir et parce qu'il se 
 fait en ce pays de grandes nourritures. Mais les habitants de la 
 campagne et des villes qui ne sont pas maritimes n'ont point 
 d'argent ; ils sont meme en fort petit nombre, ce qui arrive de ce 
 que les colonies qui sont dans les Indes occidentales, I'etablissement 
 de beaucoup de families dans I'Irlande et le service des vaisseaux 
 consomment beaucoup de gens. 
 
 178. Salisbury Cathedral. — Bigorre to Lionne, Aug. 15, 1665. 
 — II y a en ce lieu une fort belle eglise qui est entre les mains des 
 Protestants. Elle a autant de piliers qu'il y a d'heures a I'an, 
 autant de fenetres que de jours, et autant de portes que de mois. 
 
 179. Shutting up of Houses. — Courtin to Lionne, Aug. 19, 
 1665. — On a decouvert a midi qu'un des palefreniers du Roi a la 
 peste et on a donnc ordre de I'enfermer, aussi bien que tous les 
 autres qui logcnt dans la meme maison. C'est un bon moyen pour 
 les faire tous mourir. 
 
 180. Shutting up of the Servants of the Spanish Ambas- 
 sador. — The Three to Louis, Aug. 21, 1665. — Les plupart des 
 
248 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 domestiques de I'Ambassadcur d'Espagnc qui, par bonhcur pour lui 
 ne logeaient pas dans sa maison, furent hier enfermcs. 
 
 1 8 1. The Plague at Salisbury. — Verneuil goes Hunting. — 
 Bigorre to Lionne, Aug. 21, 1665. — S^elques gardes qu'on ait 
 mises aux portes de cette ville, un homme ayant la peste n'a pas 
 laisse d'y entrer. II a, quasi durant deux jours, frequente toute sorte 
 de personnes et enfin avant hier au soir, il tomba raide mort au milieu 
 de la rue, a deux cents pas de la maison du Roi d'Angleterre. On a 
 brule une tente sous laquelle il s'etait repose et on a fermc la 
 maison ou il avait couche et dans laquelle neuf domestiques de 
 I'Ambassadeur d'Espagne, ses chevaux et ses carrosses ont etc depuis 
 enfermcs. . . , Monsieur le Due de Verneuil se divertit a la chasse ; 
 il a deja une meute a lui avec laquelle il prend des daims et si 
 quelque danger nous menace Dieu veut pour le moins que nous ne 
 le craignons pas. 
 
 182. CouRTiN would like TO GO. — To LtoTine, Aug. 21, 1665. 
 — Car a vous dire la verite ce me serait une chose fort douloureuse 
 de servir de fascine a votre politique dans un pays oil tout le 
 monde tremble et ou nous voyons mourir tous les jours des gens 
 devant nos yeux. "M. de Verneuil approche de son terme ; M. de 
 Cominges n'est debout que quatre heures pendant la journee, et ne 
 vit que de poisson. Pour moi, qui n'ai pas encore trente huit ans, 
 il me semble que je hasarde ici plus que pas un de la troupe et je 
 voudrais bien me voir aupres de vous dans la nouvelle maison de 
 M. le Commandeur de Souvre oil je mangerais plus volontiers de 
 ses potages que je ne prendrai ici des preservatifs que Madame de 
 Sable m'a cnvoyes. 
 
 183. A Dream of Miss Stewart. — Courtin to Lionne^ Aug. 23, 
 1665. — Pour vous entretenir moins serieusement, il est bon que 
 vous sachiez que Mile. Stewart songea avant-hier, la nuit, qu'elle 
 etait couchee avec les trois ambassadeurs de France. II est vrai 
 que, comme elle contait la chose au Roi d'Angleterre, il m'appela 
 en tiers et cela fut cause qu'elle dit en rougissant qu'elle etait du 
 cote de M. de Verneuil. 
 
 184. Miss Jennings and Miss Boynton. — Courtin to Lionne^ 
 
APPENDIX. 249 
 
 Aug. 23, 1665. — II y en a deux qui sont fort jolies ; j'en prends 
 a tcmoin M. votre fils qui vous dira ce que c'cst que ' Mistris 
 Bointon.' II fit semblant d'en etre amoureux pour faire dcpit a 
 * Mistris Gcnins.' II est vrai que * Mistris Genins' avait grand 
 tort; elle ne voulait qu'il lui baisat les mains; et a la fin elle 
 comprit qu'il valait mieux abandonner ses mains que de perdre un 
 galant, et raccomodemcnt fut bicntot fait, 
 
 185. News of the Plague. — Courtin to Lionne, Aug. 30, 1665. 
 — II est encore mort ce matin un homme en pleine rue. C'est 
 une mechante habitude qui commence a prendre ici. 
 
 186. News of the Plague. — The /Three to Lionne, Sept. 20, 
 1665. — II est mort pendant la semaine passee 8,250 personnes 
 dans Londres. On y allume des feux dans toutes les rues pour 
 chasser, s'il est possible, le mauvais air. 
 
 187. Impending Return of the Ambassadors. — Courtin to Lionne, 
 Oct. 13, 1665. — Nous attcndrons avec impatience de vos nouvelles 
 pour savoir ce que nous deviendrons. Toute la grace que je vous 
 demande c'est que si vous voulez livrcr quelqu'un aux dogues de ce 
 pays, vous fassiez cet honneur-la a M. Dumas et que vous con- 
 sideriez un peu qu'un cadet d'une pauvre famille, charge de quatre 
 enfants a besoiri de se conserver pour eux. 
 
 188. Arguing with the Duke of York. — The Three to Louis, 
 Oct. 13, 1665. — II nous rcpondit qu'il nous verrait toujours fort 
 volontiers, mais que nous ne le ferions point changer de senti- 
 ments ; qu'il etait Anglais et par consequent fort opiniatre — Mais, 
 Monsieur, lui repartimes nous, vous etes Fran^ais d'un cote. II 
 est juste que vous vous partagiez un peu. 
 
 Messieurs, reprit-il, il est vrai. Mais les Anglais sont opiniatres 
 quand ils ont raison et, quand ils ne Font pas, les Fran^ais l-e sont 
 avec raison. Ainsi il n'y a rien a gagner avec moi. 
 
 Et sur cela, il sortit de sa chambre et s'en alia aux priercs. 
 
 189. The Speech from the Throne translated into French. 
 — The Three to Lionne, Nov. i, 1665. — Nous vous envoyons une 
 traduction des harangues du Roi de la Grande Bretagne et de son 
 
250 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 Chancelier, L'auteur nous assure qu'elle est fort fidcle ; il s'excuse 
 seulement sur ce qu'il a suivi le tour de la phrase Anglaise et sur 
 ce qu'il pretend que M. le Chancelier est obscur dans ses expres- 
 sions. Nous nous en rapportons a ce qu'il en dit, ne sachant pas 
 cette langue ; et tout ce que nous pouvons faire, c'est de vous 
 repondre qu'il a eu bonne intention et qu'il s'est attache a inter- 
 preter veritablement les endroits les plus importants. 
 
 190. The Saardam Shipbuilders. — The Three to Louis, Nov. 
 I, 1665. — [Van Gogh said to Courtin] que, dans une autre con- 
 joncture, Messieurs les Etats seraient faches que la puissance de 
 V. M. s'augmentat sur la mer, mais qu'ils le souhaitaient a cette 
 heure ; que vous aviez assez de matelots, mais que vous manquiez 
 de navires, et qu'en mettant la main a la bourse et donnant six 
 semaines d'avance aux entrepreneurs du village de ' Serdam,' ils 
 vous batiraient trente vaisseaux qui seraient prets d'etre mis a la 
 mer au printemps. 
 
 191. Sufferings of the Irish. — The Three to Louis, Nov. i, 1665. 
 — Le Parlement a rcsolu, apres une deliberation qui a dure deux 
 jours, de defendre de transporter les bestiaux d'Irlande dans ce 
 royaume : c'est encore un nouveau sujet de ruine pour les 
 Irlandais qui n'avaient plus que ce seul commerce. 
 
 192. Animosity against the French. — The Three to Louis, Nov. 
 I, 1665. — La haine des Anglais en general est a present si grande 
 contre la France, que le Parlement approuverait tous les traites qu'il 
 croirait etre utiles pour ruiner vos desseins. C'est pourquoi V. M. 
 a plus de raison que jamais de veiller incessamment sur ce qui se 
 passera dans les pays etrangers ou, a I'avenir, tout conspirera contre 
 Sa grandeur, et ou les mesures qu'Elle aura prises seront aisees a 
 rompre. 
 
 193. Want 'OF better Information. — The Three to Louis, Nov. 
 i^ 1665. — V. M. nous permettra de Lui representer en cet endroit 
 qu'il serait necessaire que nous fussions un peu mieux instruits que 
 nous ne le sommes de tout ce qui a quelque rapport avec la nego- 
 ciation dont V. M. nous a fait I'honneur de nous charger. Nous 
 ne Savons rien de ce qui se passe en Hollande, en Suede et en 
 Danemark. 
 
AFFEM)JX, 251 
 
 194. Choosing a iplace for the Quarantine. — Montausier to 
 Lionne, Nov, 16, 1665. — [There are the St. Marcou islets]; il est 
 vrai qu'il n'y a point de logement, si ce n'est une petite maison- 
 nette ou un cordelier se retire I'etc comme un crmite. Ainsi ces 
 Messieurs y seraient tr^s mal. 
 
 195. The Quarantine. — Courtin to Lionne, Nov. 25, 1665. — 
 On dit que dans les pays chauds [la quarantaine] n'est jamais de 
 plus de dix-sept jours pour les personnes. Ainsi, j'espere que si 
 nous abordons heureusement et que nous soyons tous en bonne 
 sante, le Roi nous fera la grace de nous laisser glisser avec chacun 
 un valet de chambre du cote de Paris. . . . Nous sommes fort 
 embarrasses de nos personnes, et je dirais volontiers comme Don 
 Bertrand : pour deux cents coups de fouet j'en voudrais etre quitte 
 et etre a la maison. 
 
 196. Parting gifts from Charles. — Courtin to Lionne^ Dec. 13, 
 1665. — Mercredi vers les onze heures du soir, comme j'allais me 
 mettre au lit, le Maitre des ceremonies vint m'apporter un diamant 
 accommode pour servir de poin^on, de la part du Roi d'Angleterre. 
 Je lui demandai s'il avait etc chez Messieurs de Verneuil et de 
 Cominges. II me dit qu'il leur venait de porter, au premier une 
 boitc de portrait et a I'autre une bague et des pendants d'oreille, 
 qu'ils avaient acceptes. 
 
 197. HoLLEs' Street Difficulties. — Holies to Louis ^ Dec. 1665. 
 — [Holies goes to the Louvre, following the coach of Madame. 
 He is met by the coach of Madame de Carignan, which coach] 
 s'arr^te et attend que celui de Madame fut passe ; puis ses laquais 
 se jettent sur mes chevaux sans rien dire, les arretent a coups do 
 baton et font passer leur carrosse devant le mien. Apres cela sc 
 melent avec mes laquais une douzaine dit-on de ceux-la avec dc 
 gros batons, prepares ce semble pour une telle affaire ; les miens 
 n'etaient que cinq ou six et n'avaient rien en leurs mains que 
 quelque petite baguette. . . . 
 
 Ensuite ils [the Carignan valets] se mirent a braver et a dire qu'il 
 y avait douze carrosscs en France qui avaient droit de marcher 
 devant celui de I'Ambassadeur et que le leur en etait un. 
 
 198. The Journey. — Undergoing the Quarantine. — T^he 
 
252 A FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 
 
 Three to Louis, Dec. 25, 1665. — Cc que nous apprehendous a cette 
 heure c'est I'extrcme froid qu'il fait depuis deux jours, dont nous 
 sentons deja la rigueur, etant loges dans une grande maison qui n'a 
 pas encore etc habitee et dont les dedans ne sont pas acheves. 
 Nous ne laisserons pas neanmoins de nous tenir dans les bornes de 
 notre quarantaine et, des aujourd'hui, nous avons fait dire la messe 
 dans le lieu ou nous sommes loges sans permettre a pas un de nos 
 gens d'aller a I'eglise du village, afin qu'on ne nous puisse rien 
 imputer. Apres cela nous attendrons en patience et avec toute 
 sorte de soumission les ordres de S. M. dans Tesperance que le 
 vent et le froid nous ayant bien purifies nous pourrons obtcnir la 
 liberte d'etre delivres de I'incommodite que nous souffrons. 
 
 Un armateur anglais, nonobstant les passeports du Roi de la 
 Grande Bretagne a pris le maitre d'un vaisseau fran^ais qui portrait 
 les chiens de moi, due de Verneuil, et un de mes suisses. Ce 
 vaisseau etait sorti un jour plus tot que nous du port de Douvres, 
 dont nous ne sortimes qu'a la troisieme tentative, dans la premiere 
 desquelles le vaisseau dans lequel nous etions faillit a perir, ayant 
 heurte contre le mole et brise tout son chateau de poupe. 
 
INDEX 
 
 A. 
 
 Algiers, 132 
 
 Amalbi (Sibylle d'), 37 
 
 Amsterdam, 134 
 
 Anne of Austria, 34, 35, 44 
 
 Armentidres, 36 
 
 Aristotle, 58, 100, loi 
 
 Arlington (see Bennet), 151, 176 
 
 Arthur (King), 117 
 
 Aumont (Due d'), 161 
 
 Aymc (surgeon), 51 
 
 B. 
 
 Bacon, 58 
 
 Bantam, 132 
 
 Bassompierre, 36 
 
 Batailler, Secretary of Embassy, 
 31 ; his account of the opening 
 of Parliament, 99 et seq. 
 
 Bedford, Earl of, 74 
 
 Bellasys, Lord, 99 
 
 Ballings, Richard, 107 
 
 Bennet, Sir H. {see Arlington), 
 
 54. 11 
 Berni, Marquis de (Lionne's son), 
 his journey to England, 153 
 et seq. ; his loves, 1 53 et seq. ; 
 
 writes dispatches, 154 ; his 
 
 marriage, 182 
 Besnac, Marquis dc, 81 
 Bigorre, Secretary of Embassy, 
 
 147, 158, 163, 164, 167 
 Boatmen, oppose the building of 
 
 a bridge, 83 
 Boileau 55 
 Bouquant, 36 
 Boynton, Miss, 156 
 Breda, peace of, 181 
 Brienne, 25, 147 
 Bristol, Earl of, 53 ; accuses 
 
 Clarendon, 104 et seq. 
 Broglie, Comte de, 53 
 Broussel, 35 
 Bruchet, Cominges' secretary, 
 
 130 
 Buchanan, 58 
 Buckingham, Duke of, 58, 64 
 
 74» 107, 137 
 Burleigh, 82 
 Burnet, 80 
 
 Carignan, Princess of, 82 
 Castlemaine, Lady, 17, 59, 72 
 
254 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 gives a fete in honour of 
 Madame de Cominges, 85, 88, 
 90 ; unpleasant adventure in 
 the park, 91, 93, 94.; her con- 
 version, 95, 118, 119, 120; 
 sides with the Spaniards, 144, 
 151, 152, 172 
 
 Catherine of Braganza, Queen, 
 her illness, 88 ; goes to Tun- 
 bridge, 89 ; to Bath, 90, 92 
 
 Cesonie, nickname of Madame de 
 Cominges, 37 
 
 Chapelain, 36, 6t, 62 
 
 Charles 11., King of England, 15 ; 
 interposes between Watteville 
 and d'Estrades, 22; his corre- 
 spondence with Madame, 50; 
 dines at the French Embassy, 
 59 ; interferes in favour of 
 Sorbieres, 63 ; his decree con- 
 cerning the Ambassadors' 
 coaches, 70 ; dines with 
 Cominges, 83 ; his character 
 described, 87 ; his policy, loi ; 
 attitude in the Bristol affair, 
 104; favours the Catholics, 
 115; goes to Chatham, 135 
 et seq. ; receives the " Celebre 
 Ambassade," 140 ; pretended 
 ignorance of French, 142 ; 
 wants Parliament to pass a 
 bill against fogs, 160 
 
 Chatelus,.36 
 
 Chaulnes, Due de, 161 
 
 Chesterfield, 153, 182 
 
 Choisy, Abbe de, 19, 104 
 
 Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl 
 of, 17; sells Dunkirk, 30; 
 does not speak French, 54, 62 ; 
 
 accused by Bristol, 104 et seq.; 
 his coldness towards France, 
 125 et seq. ; his unpopularity, 
 127; procrastination, 141, 143 ; 
 breaks the negotiation, 176 
 
 Clement, Nicolas, his note con- 
 cerning Shakespeare, 56 
 
 Colbert, 48 
 
 Comines, Philippe de, 172 
 
 Cominges, Comte de, plea in 
 favour of, 14 et seq.-, his origin 
 and life, 33 ^/ seq. ; his son, 
 40 ; reaches London, 42 ; tone 
 and manner of his correspon- 
 dence, 42 et seq. ; ignorance of 
 English, 52 ; asked to send 
 a report on English men of 
 letters, 55 ; his entree, 66 et 
 seq. ; at my Lord Mayor's, 76 
 et seq.', at home, 82 ^/ seq. ; de- 
 scribes the Court, 91 et seq.; 
 the Parliament, 100 et seq.; 
 gives an account of the Bristol 
 affair, 104 et seq. ; of religious 
 affairs, no et seq. ; his opinion 
 of indulgences, 113 ; of a 
 future life, 114; of prophets, 
 117; his expenses for his chapel, 
 119; his political dispatches, 
 121 ; efforts to bring about a 
 union with England, 121 et 
 seq. ; his difficulties, 125 ; his 
 illness, 129; nearly dies, 130; 
 his temper, 130; bargains for 
 slaves, 133 ; a riot at his door, 
 146 et seq. ; gives his advice 
 to young Lionne, 154; his 
 troubles on account of the 
 plague, 160 et seq. ; his journey 
 
INDEX 
 
 255 
 
 home, 178 et ieq,\ his end, 
 
 183 
 
 Cominges, Madame de, her por- 
 trait under the name of Emilie, 
 38 et seq., 65 ; journey to 
 England, 84 ; illness, 85 ; 
 journey home, 86, 183 
 
 Conde, Prince of, 34, 36, 121 
 
 Conti, Prince of, 36 
 
 Corneille, 61 
 
 Courtin, Honore, 53, 138 ; jour- 
 ney to London, 140; considers 
 war inevitable, 140 ; pleases 
 everybody, 141 ; his part in 
 the negotiation, 141 et seq. ; 
 offers to negotiate in Latin, 
 ibid; riot at his door, 146 et 
 seq. ; sorry to have too strict 
 instructions, 150; his amuse- 
 ments, I 50 et seq. ; as a drinker, 
 152 ; his views concerning 
 youth and age, 155; sends 
 chocolate to Lionne, 157 ; his 
 troubles on account of fogs, 
 the plague, &c., 159 et seq.; 
 reads Amadis^ 165 ; dismisses 
 his servants, 166 ; his difficulty 
 in finding lodgings, 166 et seq. ; 
 his views concerning war, 174 ; 
 anxious to go home, 175 ; 
 leave-taking, 178 ; journey 
 home, 178 ; quarantine at 
 Pandc, 179; his end, 182 
 
 Crequi, Ambassador to the Vati- 
 can, 79, III, 183 
 
 Cromwell, 108, 136 
 
 D. 
 
 Defoe, 163 
 
 Devonshire, Earl of, 73 
 Downing, Sir George, 31, 32, 
 
 173 
 Dumas, commercial agent, 175 
 Dunkirk, sale of, 30 
 
 E. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 123 
 
 Ell wood, Milton's friend, 163 
 
 England, attitude towards B'rance, 
 Holland, Portugal, and Spain, 
 \z\ et seq.; at war with France 
 and Holland, 181 
 
 Epoisses, castle of, 34 
 
 Erasmus, 58 
 
 Estrades, Comte d', his duel, 20; 
 Ambassador to England, 21 ; 
 his affair with Watteville, 23 
 et seq.; Ambassador to Holland, 
 30 ; negotiates the sale of 
 Dunkirk, 30 ; claims prece- 
 dence over the Prince of 
 Orange, 31, 44; his house 
 besieged, 146, 154, 182 
 
 Eugene, Prince, 174 
 
 Evelyn, 29, 59 ; his book on 
 fogs, 160, 162 
 
 Exeter House, 82 et seq. 
 
 Falmouth, Earl of, 145 
 Fanshaw, Ambassador to Spain, 
 
 127 
 Fitzhardin, 52, 140 
 Flamarens, Marquise de, 36 
 Fouquet, 55 
 France, her treaty with Holland, 
 
 142 ; at war with England, 
 
 181 
 
256 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 G. 
 
 Gassendi, 64 
 
 Geneva, reported siege of, 112 
 
 Gogh, Van, Dutch envoy to 
 
 London, 142, 149, 174, 175 
 Goulas, Nicolas, 35 
 Goulette, La, 132 
 Gramont, Chevalier de, 53, 64, 
 
 87, 93 ; his marriage, 94 et 
 
 J^f., 95, 152 
 Gravelines, 25 
 Guiche, Comte de, 14 
 Guildhall, banquet there, ']'] 
 Guitaut, 34, 41 
 
 H. 
 
 Hamilton, Anthony, 93 
 „ George, 182 
 
 „ Mile, de, 87 
 
 Hampton Court, plague at, 167 
 Heinsius, 61 
 
 Henri IV. of France, 138 
 Hobbes, dines at the French 
 
 Embassy, 59, 60 et seq., 64 
 Holland, 142, 181 
 Holies, Lord, his temper, 80 ; 
 
 his ignorance of French, 81, 
 
 131; recommends war, 173 et 
 
 seq., 182 
 Hugo, Victor, 56 
 Huygens, 59 
 
 L 
 
 India, presents from, 92 
 Ireland, 116 et seq.^ 169 
 
 J. 
 
 Japan, 132 
 Jaret, 93 
 
 Jennings, Miss, 153 et seq., 170, 
 182 
 
 Keroualle, Louise de, Duchesse of 
 
 Portsmouth, 182 
 Kingston, removal to, on account 
 
 of the plague, 163 et seq. 
 
 L. 
 
 La Calprenede, 27 
 
 La Fayette, 37 
 
 La Trousse, 37 
 
 Lauderdale, 144 
 
 La Valliere, 19 
 
 Le Notre, 183 
 
 Le Tellier, 47 
 
 Lionne, Hugues de, 17, 19, 33, 
 43, 45, 46, 49 ; difficulties 
 with Holies, 80 ; praises 
 Cominges for his report on 
 Parliament, 102 ; his views 
 concerning religious affairs, 1 1 1 
 et seq. ; his fine dispatches, 
 149 ; sends hisison to England, 
 
 153,157,159 
 
 Lionne, Madame de, 158 
 
 Longueville, Duchess of, 36 
 
 Lord Mayor, 76 et seq. 
 
 Louis XIV. assumes power, 17 ; 
 his policy, 18 ; his instructions 
 concerning precedence, 23 ; 
 concerning d'Estrades's entree, 
 25 et seq.; attitude in the 
 Watteville affair, 29 et seq. ; 
 his guitar concerts, 37 ; his 
 correspondence with Cominges, 
 43 ; attention to business, 43 ; 
 has the measles, 46, 47 ; wants 
 
INDEX. 
 
 357 
 
 a report on men of letters, 55 ; 
 his pensioners, 61 ; favours . 
 Clarendon, 62 ; instructions 
 concerning Muscovite envoys, i 
 68 et seq. ; thanks Comingcs 
 for his report on Parliament, 
 loi et seq. ; his opinion of i 
 parliaments, 108; his religious 
 opinions, no; his attitude j 
 towards Spain, 121 et seq. ; 
 towards England, Holland, and j 
 Poland, 121 ; wants slaves for \ 
 his galleys, 132 et seq.-, his 
 views concerning the naval | 
 power of England, 139, 142; 1 
 at war with England, 181 
 Louis XV., 53 
 
 M. 
 
 Macaulay, 11, 13, 182 
 
 Mancini, 39 
 
 Marlborough, Earl of, 14.5 
 
 Mazarin, Cardinal, 17, 19, 29 
 I II, 122 
 
 Mazarin, Duchess, 65, 152 
 
 Merlin, 1 17 
 
 Middleton, Mrs., 87, 93 
 
 Mignard, 183 
 
 Mignet, 1 1 
 
 Milton, 14, 58, 163 I 
 
 Moliere, 56 ! 
 
 Molina, Count of, Spanish Am- 
 bassador to England, his dinners, 
 151, 152; fray at his door, j 
 152 ; his servants shut in on 
 account of the plague, 170 et 
 seq.^ 172 ; his expenses, 172 | 
 
 Monk, General, 24, 96 
 
 Monmouth, Duke of, 53, 59, 1.37 
 
 17 
 
 Montagu, Abbe de, 78, 81 
 Montaigne, 1 14 
 Montausier, Due de, 177 
 Montespan, Madame de, 19, 34* 
 Montesquieu, 144 
 More, Sir Thomas, 58 
 Motteville, Madame de, 37 
 Munster, Bishop of, 176 
 Muscovite envoys, 65 et seq. 
 Muscovy, 132 
 
 Norfolk, 137 
 
 N. 
 
 O. 
 
 Obdam, 144 
 
 Orange, Prince of, 31, 60 
 
 Orleans, Madame, Duchess of, 
 
 50, 131, 182 
 Ormond, Duke of, 18, 94 
 Oxford, Earl of, 96 
 Oxford, Parliament meets at, 172 
 
 P. 
 
 Pande, ambassadors undergo quar- 
 antine at, 178 et seq. 
 
 Parliament, Louis XIV. anxious 
 to receive a report concerning, 
 98 et seq. ; opening of, 99 ; 
 account of, 102 et seq. 
 
 Pembroke, Earl of, 118 
 
 Pepys, II, 12, 26, 27, 68, 70, 72, 
 76, 87, 125, 126 
 
 Pepys, Mrs., 27 
 
 Persod, King's messenger, 157 
 
 Peterborough, 53 
 
 Philip IV., of Spain, 176 
 
 Plato, 58 
 
 Poland, 124 
 
258 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Pope, difficulties with the, 79, 1 1 1 
 
 et seq. 
 Porter, 157 
 Portland, Earl of, 145 
 Portsmouth, fleet goes to, 137 
 Portugal, 19; at war with Spain, 
 
 assisted by France and England, 
 
 \2T, et seq 
 Pytheas, 159, 160 
 
 Q- 
 
 Quakers, 115 
 
 Oueen-mother (Henrietta Maria), 
 
 75, 143 
 Quinctilian, 49 
 
 R. 
 
 Racine, 55, 61 
 Richefons,hisduelwithCominges, 
 
 36 
 
 Richelieu, Cardinal de, 37 
 Richmond, Duke of, 137 
 Roquelaure, 36 
 Ruvigny, Marquis de, 50, 64 
 Ruyter, 181 
 
 Saardam, shipbuilders of, 175 
 
 Sable, Madame de, 170 
 
 St. Albans, Earl of, 78, 123, 144 
 
 St. Evremont, 64, 65 
 
 St. Simon, 13, 33, 40 
 
 Salisbury, removal to, on account 
 
 of the plague, 168 et seq. 
 Sandwich, Earl of, 175 
 Savignac, 36 
 Savile, English Ambassador to 
 
 France, 104 
 Scrope, Mrs., i 51 
 
 Scudcry, 37 
 
 Sevigne, Marquise de, 34, 37 
 
 Shakespeare, 54, 55, 56 
 
 Simonnet, banker, 51 
 
 Sorbicres, Samuel de, 60, 61 ; his 
 book on England, 62 ; his 
 banishment, 63 ; answered by 
 Sprat, 63 
 
 Somaize, 37 
 
 Souvrc, Commandeur de, 170 
 
 Spain, 21, 121 et seq., 126 
 
 Sprat, Thomas, answers Sorbieres, 
 
 63 
 
 Stewart, Miss, 87, 88, 151, 170 
 Strozzi, Count, 24 
 
 T. 
 
 Talbot,'later Duke of Tyrconnel, 
 
 156, 182 
 Tale of a tub, 54 
 Temple, Sir William, 19, 64, 174 
 Torcy, Marquis de, 161 
 Trevor, Sir John, 'ji et seq. 
 Tunis, 132 
 Turenne, 121, 176 
 Tuscan envoy, 75 
 
 Venice, 23, 132 
 
 Verneuil, Henri de Bourbon, Due 
 
 de, 53, 138, 159 ; his love of 
 
 dogs, 162, 168 ; loses his dogs, 
 
 180; dies, 182 
 Verneuil, Henrietta de Balzac, 
 
 Marquise de, 138 
 Vienna, 132 
 Villeroy, 39 
 Vossius, 61 
 
INDEX. 
 
 259 
 
 W. 
 
 Wattcvillc, 22, 2f, 29, ;;o 
 West Indies, 169 
 William the Conqueror, 103 
 Witt, John de, 145 
 Woolwich, 31 
 
 105, 106, 135 et seq.^ 144 ; his 
 naval victory, 145, 171, 172 
 
 York, Duchess of, 74, 107, 153, 
 
 154 
 
 York House, 83 
 
 York, jamcs, Duke of, 74, 83, 89, Zulcsicin, 31 
 
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